Or at least the 2005 De la Montanya Tina's Vineyard Pinot Noir seems to not have cooked on it's arduous journey from CA to VA. This despite being stuck in a UPS truck for 2 full days and sitting for 3 full days over a long weekend in a warehouse! I'm hoping since this once is fine the other 5 bottles in the shipment are as well, though only time will tell, clearly.The wine came in a club shipment (as you may have realized given my ranting about this wine over the past weeks), cost $25.60 for the bottle, has a real cork closure, and weighs in at 14% alcohol by volume.
The nose of the wine displayed spicy cedar wood, oak, spices and raspberries. In the mouth were more raspberries, tart cherries and spices. Overall the wine had what I would call a smoky characteristic, mostly imparted by the wood aromas on the nose. The wine was very light in the mouth, with the fruit feeling very fresh.
It was actually a great match with dinner! I'm experimenting with our new grill and purchased a cedar plank to cook on. Using that, our dinner was cedar-planked salmon steak with lemon, mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. Now, I know you are thinking that the cedar quality in the wine was my nose playing tricks on me with the cedar planked salmon, but I assure you that I opened and tasted the wine before the salmon was even brought in the house. And, if I do say so myself, the salmon was delicious, especially with the wine. The light body of the wine and its smoky quality paired incredibly well with the heavy salmon.
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Glad your wine survived. That is the very reason I cannot be in a wine club living so south. (OK, I promise to quit "whining" about that). Your salmon sounds great! As many years as I have been grilling I have not tried the plank yet. Wood chips, yes. They have always seemed successful. But since you had good success with the plank, maybe I need one to play with!
6/8/07, 4:41 PM
I need to try the pinot/salmon combo. I always go for white with salmon, but esp grilled salmon, pinot seems like a good option.
6/9/07, 8:32 PM
It was great Winedeb, and at least to try out, not too pricey. I bought 2 single use planks in the grocery store for around $6.
David, I definitely recommend the combo. Salmon is a fairly heavy fish to me and especially with the wood grilling it seemed like a red would be a good option!
6/12/07, 1:04 PM