Wine Blog

The elusive search for perfection

Posted by: Trudy and Rob

Sunday, July 27, 2008 3:24 PM

Yay, my taste buds are back although I've still got a bit of a hacking cough. It's slowly fading away though and I'm happy enough just to be tasting that perfect wine again, or at least to keep searching for one. Which may lead to the question "what is the perfect wine?" Of course, this varies from person to person, and the best wine for the moment depends on exactly what that moment may be and who may be sharing the moment. For me, sometimes, the perfect wine of the moment might actually be a beer, enjoyed after a particularly long hot day, or perhaps with Asian or Mexican food. Sometimes it's just right. Usually though, it's wine. As we've said before, different wines match well with different foods. No one wine will match them all, and some foods seem to have no wine match at all. This weekend being the 4th and all, I'm sure we'll be drinking some fairly robust reds with grill food, maybe syrahs and zinfandels. Much of the time, however, we seem to gravitate toward pinot noir (although not with ultra spicy food). It may well be the perfect, or at least among the most perfect, wine for many types of food. In various styles it pairs well with many fish, drinks quite well with meat and game, and it's not a bad straight sipping wine on its own. We have many bottles of pinot downstairs in many different styles. They come from California, Oregon, France and New Zealand, and each of these regions have subtle differences among them. In the U.S., California seems to produce, bigger, fruitier, and more alcoholic wines than Oregon. Oregon wines seem to generally have a bit more finesse. French pinot noirs, produced in Burgundy, are becoming frightfully expensive, so much so that I almost don't buy them. They are very much a hit-and-miss proposition but when they hit, they can be heavenly. They also generally have less alcohol than many U.S. pinots so they seem to pair better with more foods. New Zealand pinots share traits of both French and American pinots. This is why it's so much fun to taste around. Good tasting wines from all of these regions can be found at many price points starting from about $15 on up. Below this level I haven't found any pinots that are that enjoyable or even identifiable as a pinot. Also, much of what I try in any price range from the big producers such as Mondavi and Kendall-Jackson don't seem to do much for me. However, there are exceptions to be found in some of the smaller winery groups owned by the biggies such as the Hartford Court wines that are made under the umbrella of the Kendall-Jackson group. At the less expensive end of the American range you might look for La Crema pinot, usually found in the $14 to $17 range (and coincidentally also made under the Kendall-Jackson umbrella). At the higher end of the line, Oregon pinots from the likes of Patricia Green and Ken Wright can be downright stellar. On the French side of things, many Burgundies have gotten way too pricey, but some good tasting and reasonably priced wines can still be had from some of the second tier areas such as Savigny-les-Beaune. Producers such as Simon Bize and Maurice Ecard do consistently well here with wines priced in the low to mid-$30 range. From New Zealand, Villa Maria and Rockburn do a very good job with pinot noir at prices that don't break the bank. There are many other fine New Zealand Pinots as well. Almost all of these wines can be found or ordered locally. So, we're kind of curious how any of you out there drink and enjoy pinot noir and what label you might be drinking. Let us know! As for the other night's wine consumed with a good Italian style grouper? A Ken Wright '06 Shea Vineyard pinot. Delicious!

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