When you think of South Africa and wine, you probably think of really warm areas with grapes getting PLENTY of sunshine. At the very tip of the continent though, there are areas where the climate is cool enough for those grapes that prefer sweater weather, like Pinot Noir.
Located where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, the Cape South Coast region with the larger Western Capearea, is South Africa’s coolest region. Greg and I recently sat down to a dinner exploring two wines from this area – one from Hamilton Russell Vineyards and one from Tesselaarsdal. Both wineries are in the small region of Hemel-en-Aarde, which means “heaven and earth in the Afrikaans language. These two wines don’t just share a region, though; they’re each part of a continuing story.
(Note: Both of these wines were sent as samples. No other compensation was received, and as always, all opinions are my own.)
Tim Hamilton Russell purchased his estate in 1975, after searching extensively for the ideal spot to grow cool climate grape varieties. His son, Anthony, took over in 1991 (and purchased the property in 1994) and decided to focus only on estate grown Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Today, he and his wife Olive, their winemaker Emul Ross, and viticulturist John Montgomery continue to make elegant wines from the tiny yields of their estate vines.
Berene Sauls grew up in a small village called Tesselaarsdal not far from Hamilton Russell. When she was 19 she went to work for the family as an au pair at in 2001. Not long after, she went to work in the wine business in an administrative position, and worked her way up from there. She eventually got curious about the winemaking process. Fifteen years into her journey, Anthony Hamilton Russell offered to help get her started in establishing her own wine business. Along with that came the expertise and assistance the Hamilton Russell team. Her first wine was a 2015 Pinot Noir made with Emul Ross as the winemaker.
Berne named her winery for the village she grew up, which has a very interesting history. It’s named for Johannes Tesselaar. He’d been a East India Company settler, and he left his land to his freed slaves to farm upon his death in 1810. Berne is a descendent of these freed slaves. She named the winery Tesselaardal to honor this history and her family’s legacy in the region. She’s breaking down barriers with wines that have been gaining great acclaim in a very short time.
We really enjoyed both of these wines. We’ll get into specifics in a moment, but both had elegance while showing plenty of fruit flavor. Speaking in broad generalities of major Pinot styles around the world, for me these two had more concentration of fruit than Willamette, but was less fruity and extracted than a Russian River Pinot.
I adapted a recipe from Evan Goldstein’s Perfect Pairings for Pork Loin Glazed with Pomegranate and Orange, which is recommended for “ripe, fruit-forward Pinot Noirs (New World style).” I’m a big fan of using what you have around the house rather than getting hung up when you’re missing an ingredient or two. I didn’t have pomegranate syrup or molasses or syrup as called for, so I worked in raspberry preserves instead. I also LOVE what a sous vide circulator can do for pork loin, so I adapted the recipe that follows for sous vide cooking. I also roasted some sweet potatoes to have alongside. (Potatoes were roastes for 35 minutes at 425°F. I tossed them with a little sauce from the pork recipe below for the last 5 minutes of cooking, then put them under the broiler with the pork for about a minute to caramelize them a bit more.)
Now let’s finally get to the wines and how they worked.
Hamilton Russell Vineyards Pinot Noir Hemel-en-Aarde Valley South Africa 2017
Hamilton Russell Vineyards works only with grapes from their terroir. They initiated extensive soil research in 1994 identified 130 acres of stony, clay-rich, shale-derived soil, which they find to be optimal for their style. They’ve limited all of their plantings to the areas that have this soil type.
Geeky Details:
(Taken from the tech sheet. Check it out for more info on the vintage and additional details, as they provide a lot of information.)
Alcohol: 13.31% Acid: 5.47 g/l PH: 3.55 Residual Sugar: 1.6 g/l Barrel Maturation: 100% Barrel Ageing : 10 Months. 100% 228 liter French Oak Barrels of various ages and toasts. (37% new, 35% 2nd use, 28% 3rd use) Malolactic: 100% Yield: 3.46 tons/ha, 23.90 hl/ha Production: 3909 cases of 12 bottles equivalent Average Price: $41
Tasting Notes & Pairing
Nose: Cherry and red berries surrounded by light curls of smoke give way to clove and black pepper, and black tea. Palate: Savory, rustic herbs join the party, along with the red fruits and spices. Medium bodied with medium+ acidity, and fine-grained tannins.
The wine became more savory with the food, but it also became a little bitter in bites that had a lot of the sauce, which had a little sweetness. It wasn’t bad with the food, but we thought it would work better with a preparation that spoke more to the wine’s savory character. A pork tenderloin flavored with black pepper and herbs would suit this wine more.
Tesselaarsdal Pinot Noir Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge South Africa 2017
Grapes are currently sourced until Tesselaarsdal’s own vineyards are secured and ready for harvest. Pinot Noir is the winery’s sole focus at the moment, as it suits the climate and soil types.
Geeky Details:
(Taken from the tech sheet. Again, see the sheet for more info, as it’s quite detailed.)
Alcohol: 13.8% Acid: 5.61 pH: 3.44 Residual Sugar: 1.85 Barrel Ageing: 9.5 months Maturation: 100% 228L French oak barrels. (30% New, 23% 2nd use, 30% 3rd use, 17% 4th use.) Yield: 6 tons / ha Production: 322.58 cases Fruit origin: Hemel-en-aarde Ridge 100%, Unirrigated La Vierge Vineyards Average Price:$42
Tasting Notes & Pairing
Nose: Savory herbs, cranberry, red plums, white pepper. Palate: Lots of red fruits on the palate with a hint of orange peel and light spices. The wine had mouth-watering acidity and fine tannins. This wine had a little more fruit on the palate and a little more body than the previous wine.
This wine fared better against the food thanks to that extra fruit on the palate, which turned more towards cranberry and pomegranate with a hint of tobacco.
These wines definitely sparked my interest to further explore Pinots from this region!
sous vide, pork, dinner, easy
dinner
Yield: 4 to 6
Author: Nicole Ruiz Hudson
Pork Loin Glazed with Raspberry and Orange
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 65 Mtotal time: 75 M
An glazed pork loin recipe to pair with a fruity Pinot Noir adapted from Perfect Pairings by Evan Goldstein for sous vide cooking.
ingredients:
1 3-lb boneless pork roast or 2 1½-lb pork tenderloins
For the Marinade
¼ cup orange juice
2 T soy sauce
2 T grated fresh ginger
1 T raspberry preserves
1 T maple syrup
2 T spicy mustard
4 garlic cloves
For the Sauce:
⅓ orange juice
2 T syrup
1 T raspberry preserves
1 T mustard
2 T soy sauce
At least 2 T reserved marinade
instructions:
How to cook Pork Loin Glazed with Raspberry and Orange
Preheat sous vide circulator to 133°F (or to desired temperature).
Stir together all the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Make sure reserve at least 2 tablespoons for the sauce. Place the pork in a sous vide appropriate plastic bag. Pour the marinade into the bag with the pork. (If you have more than needed, feel free to add more to the sauce.) Let pork marinate for at least 30 minutes to overnight in the fridge. (Pull the pork from the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking.)
Remove the air from the bag via vacuum seal or by slowly submerging the bag into water to displace the air, then sealing the bag. Cook for 1 hour.
While the pork is cooking, mix the ingredients for the sauce in a saucepan, along with any extra marinade. Simmer and reduce until the sauce coats the bag of a spoon. (When the pork is done cooking, you can also add the cooking liquid and reduce again if you have the time.)
Once the pork has cooked for at least an hour, remove it from the water and the bag. Pat the pork dry and brush on some of the sauce. Finish the pork by placing it on a baking sheet and putting it under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes, or until nicely caramelized. (Alternatively, you can also sear the pork in a pan.)
Slice the pork and serve with extra sauce on the side.
The day we landed in Rome on our trip to Italy last September, we ran into some annoying travel problems. We landed after our long flight to discover that there were issues with our car reservation. Bottom line, there was no car. Neither of us had slept much on the flight (I can never sleep much on planes), so we were in that zombie state where it’s both hard to make sense or make sense of the world around you. It took a very long time to get ourselves sorted and out of the airport. When we finally got ourselves settled, we muscled up enough energy to take an introductory stroll around the city. Eventually, all we wanted was something tasty to eat (we were in Italy after all) and something cold and refreshing to drink. Nothing complicated; just delicious.
The solution was clear: pizza and Lambrusco. We found our way to one of the pizzerias on our long list of recommended restaurants – Pizzeria Baffetto – and sat down to a big pie loaded with toppings and a cold, fizzy bottle. It was still hot in Rome at this time of year, and a big red just did not seem appealing. Nor were we in any state to really analyze and revel in a complex wine. Lambrusco was just the thing.
That said, don’t assume I’m talking about the sweet, schlocky fizz that Lambrusco became associated with a while back. I had learned there was a lot more to this class of wines a long time ago. One of the very first pieces I wrote on wine years ago was called “Lauding Lambrusco” for the now departed Food Arts Magazine. It covered a seminar and tasting celebrating the wide range of styles Lambrusco comes in, and paired different versions with many different bites prepared by celebrated Chefs like Michael White. My appreciation for these wines started there, and since Lambruscos don’t tend to be very pricey it’s been easy to continue the relationship over the years and will usually have a bottle of two around. Lambrusco is actually the name of a group of related grape varieties originating in Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, although these grapes are grown in a few other regions as well. These sparkling wines range in styles from sweet (dolce), to off-dry (amiable) to very dry (secco). There are even rosé and white Lambruscos (these make a delicious pairing for sushi!), but by far and away the most common versions are red. We’re not going to get too far into the nitty gritty of each one, but there are a few different varieties and some of them have their own DOC’s in Emilia-Romagna which include: Lambrusco di Sorbara, Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro, and Lambrusco Salamino di Santa Croce. (There are 8 different Lambrusco DOC’s in total.) Across the board, in all of these cases the wine must be made up of at least 85 percent Lambrusco grapes, and in some cases it has to be a specific sub-variety. (The remaining bit can be made of different grapes depending on the DOC.) Today’s wine is a Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro, which comes from a the town of Castelvetro di Modena. Grasparossa is one of the most full-bodied of the Lambrusco varieties, and it is the most tannic. This all makes Grasparossa a really good option if you’re looking for an alternative to a still red wine that you can served chilled. Most of Lambrusco is made through the charmat method(similar to Prosecco) for sparkling wine, but some is still made via the traditional method(similar to Champagne.) You do have to be careful about where you buy them, because there are a lot of a mass-produced versions. However, if you go to a store you trust you can find really solid bottles that aren’t that pricey. I’ve had the pleasure of trying some beautiful, complex versions, but I’m not going to lie to you, I tend to grab these bottles when, like on this occasion, I’m just looking for refreshment and enjoyment. We were beyond exhausted and worn down on that first night in Rome, and the pizza and Lambrusco combo was the perfect restorative, comforting, simple pleasure.
THE WINE & PAIRING
I recently decided to take inspiration from this experience for a homemade pizza night. We popped a bottle of Lambrusco and decided to let the wine inspire the toppings, then sipped away while the pizzas baked in the oven. Our wine for the night was the Azienda Agricola Pezzuoli Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro NV, which comes from 4th generation winemaking family that has been in working since 1932. Their are wines are still 100% estate made. The Pezzuoli Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro gave us notes of tart blackberries and sour cherry, a bit of meatiness, a touch of balsamic and medicinal herbs in the background. It was juicy, but dry with a savory finish and had lots of mouth puckering acidity.
We definitely wanted some charcuterie on this pizza, so opted for some Calabrese salami. Without overthinking it too much, the wine moved us to use roasted red pepper spreadas our sauce over the usual tomato sauce. Given all the acidity, we though the wine could handle some marinated artichokes, and briny black olives seemed a good option to pair with the wine’s savory finish. Topped it all off with buffalo mozzarella for that melty, oozy, cheesy factor. I also sprinkled on a favorite herb mix just before serving, to tie in some of those light herbal notes in the wine and I really think it gave it a nice pop of flavor. Here’s the one I used, but feel free to use your favorite. The combination of ingredients reminded me of an antipasto platter served up on a pizza, hence the name. I’m working on my pizza crust game. A friend recently gifted me some of her sourdough starter and I’ve been starting to make bread at home, as well experimenting with sourdough pizza crusts. This was only my second attempt at a homemade sourdough crust. The skill is definitely still in development, but this second run was already a big improvement from the first, and I’m more than happy to keep at it. I used this recipe fromNYT Cooking, but the flour between the recommended and whole wheat flour. I used the entire quantity for one large pie, baked for 12 to 15 minutes at 550°F. Feel free to use your favorite of buy storebought dough.
We really liked this combo and the Lambrusco was full on chuggable alongside it. So yummy! I highly recommend this as a low-stress pairing experiment. Have a selection of pizza toppings available. Pop open and taste your bottle of wine, then just go with whatever you feel like having with it. Don’t stress, just go with your gut. It’s pizza and wine — the results are bound to be good!
OTHER POSSIBILITIES
Lambrusco is remarkably food friendly. Charcuterie, panini, pasta — of course! 100% I can tell you from experience that adry, savor version like this one is AMAZING with a mushroom burger. it’s a pretty ideal candidate for a summer cookout when you’ve got meat going on the grill on a hot sunny day. I’d guess this would be particularly good would vinegar based BBQ sauces. Don’t eat meat? I’m certain it would also be excellent with a portobello burger with a little balsamic vinegar or soy sauce glazed on top.
THE GEEKY DETAILS
I couldn’t find a tech sheet, but the estate vines are all grown through sustainable methods, with some organic practices in use. I believe it’s made through the charmat method.
MONEY TALK
I think I bought this wine for about $17ish (I can’t find the receipt) at Bay Grape. I that’s a really Solid Buy for a good representation of this style.
*****
The rest of the Italian Food Wine Travel Group is exploring Lambrusco this month as well. If you see this early enough, you can join us for our Twitter Chat tomorrow morning at 8 am PT/ 11 am ET by following #ItalianFWT. Check out the group's offerings here:
I started to write this post a few months ago during a Women’s History Month celebration of the women of Champagne. As so often happens though, lack of time got in the way of my intentions and this post got sidetracked. Today, we come back to it in this quick post and we raise a glass to the long line of women at the helm of Laurent-Perrier.
We begin with Mathilde Emilie Perrier. Like so many other of the famous women of Champagne, Mathilde came to take over the house when she became a widow. Her husband Eugène Laurent died in the cellars in 1867 when Mathilde was 35. (Eugène had been the cellar master and actually inherited the company from his former employer, Alphonse Pierlo when he died without heirs.) When she took over, she renamed the house by adding her own last name to her husband’s: Veuve Laurent-Perrier.
In this previous post I mentioned that Madame Pommery was the first to crack the code on making the Brut style work. Mathilde took things a step further and in 1889 she launched the house’s Grand Vin sans Sucre, with no sugar added – making it a precursor to the modern Brut Nature styles that have recently become popular.
Sadly, the tumult of the World War I and Great Depression took their toll on the house and Mathilde’s daughter Eugénie was forced to sell the company in 1939. However, it passed into the hands of another woman: Marie-Louise Lanson de Nonancourt of the Lanson family. She wanted a company she could pass onto her sons Maurice and Bernard. She ran it through WWII though, managing to maintain her stock by walling up bottles of Champagne hidden in a cellar. Bernard did eventually take over and created the style the house is still known for.
He ran and grew the company for 60 years, but now his two daughters, Alexandra Perèyre de Nonancourt and Stéphanie Méneux de Nonancourt oversee the house.
The lady power continues from there, as Michelle DeFeo is the President of Laurent-Perrier U.S. She’s been in this role since 2014 and is responsible for growing U.S. business and raising awareness of the brand. She’s been very successful, as growth has been on a continuous upswing every year.
Greg and I enjoyed a mag of the Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé NV for our anniversary a few months ago, which we spent with friends at the Culinary Cabinin Tahoe. Our friend Drew greeted us with the bottle and jar of caviar from the Caviar Company in SF (see pic at the top). How kind is that?! He and his wife Lucy take the cake on gracious hosting. We were just back up at the Culinary Cabin this past weekend for Memorial Day weekend, so it seems appropriate to share this memory now, even if it’s a bit delayed from when it was originally intended. (New posts are sure to arise inspired by this trip soon, and you can see the recent culinary adventures on the @NibblingGypsy Instagram feed.)
The wine was a pretty classic representation of rosé Champers, on the sleek side with plenty of minerality, but with notes of crushed berries, a hint of citrus zest and toasted almond to round out the palate. (For more info on the wine, see here.) We enjoyed it with friends while eating potato chips fresh out of the fryer topped with that caviar. Talk about decadent! YUM!!!
Incidentally, honoring the spirit and history of the women who have led this house, Laurent-Perrier launched a scholarship program earlier this year to further the career development of women in the wine industry.
Several years ago now, when I was still living in New York and working at Wine Spectator, I had the great pleasure of attending a media event at which I had the chance to meet Gérard Bertrand.
Me with Gérard Bertrand along with my friends/ex-coworkers Gillian Sciaretta and Emma Balter, circa March, 2015..
He was very charming, quite handsome, and had calm aura about him. He’s also very, very tall. More importantly, it was also very clear that he was also quite passionate and driven about his wines and the care of the land his vineyards are on. He had just released his book Wine, Moon, and Stars, and I was gifted a signed copy as a guest of the event.
I’ve kept it since, always intending to read it — there were cross-country moves, work, life, blah, blah, blah. When the Winophiles blogging group dedicated this month to Gérard Bertrand’s wines, I decided it was the perfect time to grab the book off the shelf.
In the book, Bertrand takes you through his early years when he had the chance to grow up amongst the vines and learn from his father Georges. He goes onto to describe his time as a rugby player, eventually coming back to run the family vineyards whole-heartedly. He ultimately made the decision to convert his operation to biodynamics (we’ve talked a lot about biodynamicslately, see this post for an explanation), as he quickly saw a big difference amongst the vines grown in this way. All of his estates in Languedoc-Roussillon (now a part of the Occitanie) are now farmed using biodynamic practices (some might still be in transition toward certification). This is no small feat — Bertrand’s is a large operation. According to this article in Forbes,he’s now the second largest importer of French wine into the U.S. I think this is a case of a bigger producer who is trying to do things right.
Admittedly, the writing meanders a bit, but the passion for the lands, the wine, and a general joie de viviré really come through in the pages. It’s clear he finds something deeper in a beautiful wine beyond it just being an enjoyable beverage:
Sometimes, the great flux of emotions leads to a mystical experience. You don’t need faith to get there, but it certainly helps. If you reach the message, you will experience the inner peace, serenity, love, and harmony. You are ready to commune with the spirit of the wine, to understand its very essence. Inevitably it takes time and practice to do this, along with a certain level of knowledge. But the most important thing is the capacity to be delighted. (p. 83)
Definitely lofty, but I must say that I’ve had a few experiences like this where a wine has moved me on this deeper transcendent level and it is special. I also have to admit that studying wine has helped me to better appreciate it. However, I love that he boils it down to delight as the most important factor. In the end all you really need is to want to be delighted and be open to it. If you are, delight can happen everyday.
A few of the beautiful, higher end Gérard Bertrand wines I got to try at the event, including the Clos d'Ora which is among his top end wines. This wine is a blends of Carignan, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Grenache.
The Aigle Royal Pinot Noir comes from the Haute Vallée de l'Aude winemaking region, which ranges between 250 and 500 metresabove sea leve. Pinot, which isn't a typical grape for this area, is grown at the highest reaches of the estate.
THE WINE & PAIRING
On that note, let’s move on to the delights of eating and drinking. Bertrand makes it very clear that he values the combination of the two together:
As a true lover of food and wine, I love matching one with the other, particularly through studying recipes. The interaction of the two needs to be total, one building on the other through osmosis to create a symphony. (p. 81)
I couldn’t agree more! This interaction is what keeps me going!
Tautavel is a wonderful terroir that is translated through the grenache noir, carignan and syrah that grow upon it. It is the very paucity of these soils that is the source of its power. Meager schist aboundsand forces the roots of the vines to reach down deep into the earth. It is in the balance between that which is visible–the plant, the leaves, the fruit–and that which is invisible–it’s deep root system burrowing down through the rocks in the hunt for the slightest hint of water–that the vine finds its best expression. (p. 177)
Quick tangent: The region also has a claim to fame beyond wine. Starting in 1961, over 120 human fossils were discovered in the Arago Cave. These turned out to be from between 690,000 and 300,000 years old. This lead to one of the oldest examples of homo erectus, known as Tautavel Man, thought to be 450,000 years old.
Back to the wine, on the day we opened it, the wine showed notes of raspberry and herbs, mostly garrigue with a hint of menthol on the nose. On the palate, the raspberries were ripe, with black currants, and blackberry. The garrigue came back, with some notes of rosemary, and black pepper on the finish. Greg also got hints of sage and licorice. There was also notes of pencil lead, violets, and spice that became more integrated with air and the quality of the fruit was very pure. It had medium acidity that was nonetheless pretty fresh, and had chalky tannins.
The wine was polished and classic. We decided to keep the pairing pretty classic as well: seared lamb chop loins seasoned with herbs and black pepper to resonate with these notes in the wine. A simple gravy topped things off. As accompaniment, I made Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains prepared with lamb stock. The final component was roasted zucchini prepared simply tossed in olive oil with salt, pepper, and some simple seasoning in the oven at 425°F for about 25 minutes.
The wine and lamb made a beautiful pair. Greg noted that the spice notes in the wine came out more with the food. The wine really highlighted the lamb meat as well as the black pepper and rosemary notes in both the food and the wine.
OTHER POSSIBILITIES
On their website, they recommend serving this wine with grilled peppers, pork with caramel sauce, rabbit with prune or matured cheeses.
WINEMAKER’S NOTES: Most of the grapes are picked by hand. They are sorted twice, on the vine and then in the winery. Vinification is traditional and the grapes are de‐stemmed prior to maceration, which lasts between three and four weeks. Pressing is then carried out, followed by malolactic fermentation. 33% of the wine is matured in barrels for 9 months, with the rest left in vats. Alch: 15%
MONEY TALK
I’ve always appreciated that Gérard Bertrand wines tend to provide good price to quality ratio, regardless of price point – I buy them somewhat regularly for this reason. This one is definitely fits right into this description. At $16.99 (purchased on Wine.com), this wine is definitely an Overachiever.
A few weeks ago I wrotea post trying to untangle some the confusion between organic, biodynamic, natural, and sustainable wines (and more). Later in the post I got into my own opinions on the subject. Bottom line: I’m very much in favor of buying wines that are made with respect for the environment, and I generally try to buy wines from these camps; however, I find the subject to be too complex to be dogmatic about any one method. Fast forward to this month and the Wine Pairing Weekend Group is focusing on certified biodynamic wines from Willamette Valley in Oregon. I honestly thought it would be no issue to find an appropriate wine as I’m extremely to lucky to live near several wine stores that to varying degrees focus on wine from these camps–I even work at one. However, as if to illustrate some of the difficulties from the consumer standpoint – albeit inadvertently – I had a hell of a time finding a wine. I started trying to find a wine several weeks before because I knew things were about to get crazy busy on my end with the lead-up to Bâtonnage Forum. I thought I had found a bottle right away through a friend that works at Ordinaire, a natural wine store here in Oakland, only to find that their last bottle had been purchased without my friend realizing it shortly before my arrival. I ended up trying 4 or 5 different wine stores plus Whole Foods in my search for a certified biodynamic Willamette wine. (I meant to try Wine.comas well, but it got away from me.) I found organic wines, natural wines, “practicing” biodynamic wines that weren't certified, and wines that fit the bill but from other parts of the state – there were a lot of wines I would’ve been really excited to try. I nearly gave up on the whole thing. Then I found myself with a little unexpected free time the day before Bâtonnage and decided to give it one more try. I finally lucked out: I called Minimo in Jack London Square and they had bottle for me! I fully believe that we should do the best we can to buy wines that are made in a way that’s better for our bodies and the planet, but at present, adhering to one particular method can be hard (as this exercise demonstrated) and pretty limiting. I would challenge us all to try and make better choices in what we eat and drink, but let’s also cut ourselves some slack at the same time by not being rigid in our approach. That said, the wine I ultimately found, the Farmlands Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2017 from Johan Vineyards was delicious and totally reasonably priced at $24 (taxes included). One of the things I really appreciate about Willamette Pinots in general is that they strike a balance between the fruit-driven qualities we see in a lot of California versions, and the earthiness of versions from Burgundy. Willamette tends to hit it right down the center in a wonderful way, to my palate anyways. This one fit right into this idea. It was juicy with red berries and pomegranate notes complemented by light earthy and herbal notes and a light hint of clove spice. I think this would be a crowd pleaser and a good all-purpose Pinot. Johan Vineyards is clearly doing their part to farm in a conscientious way. Dag Johan Sundby purchased the 175-acre property in 2005 and began the conversion to organic and biodynamic agriculture two years later. The property achieved its certification in 2010. They believe that farming biodynamically “produces vines that are more resistant to disease and creates a healthy natural immune system within the vine.” It also “ increases the assimilation of nutrients naturally present in the soil,” among other things. Greg and I enjoyed this with a simple salmon dinner. This recipeby Mark Bittman for the NY Times is one of my favorite, low-stress methods for preparing salmon. The only changes I now make is that I often prop the salmon on citrus slices, and I don’t bother flipping it or peeling the skin off. If I feel the skin needs to crisp a little further, I’ll throw it under the broiler for a minute or so. In this case, I also made roasted cauliflower steaks, and saucy sautéed mushrooms to accompany the salmon. The mushrooms made an easy complement for the earthy notes in the wine. Altogether this Pinot and salmon dinner was a simple and nourishing meal leading building me up for a big and frenzied next day. It hit the spot perfectly; however, this is a versatile red that should also be able to go with any number of different dishes from vegetables, to light meats, and chicken.
Geeky Details
I couldn’t find a tech sheet for 2017, but the 2016 tech sheet states: The wine was made from Biodynamic certified estate grown fruit. Grapes were fermented in small batches using only native yeast for both primary and malolactic fermentation. During primary fermentation the cap was punched down twice a day, either by foot or pumped-over. Once the wine fermented dry, it was pressed off the skins and barreled down into neutral French oak barrels, where it aged for 7 months.
*****
The rest of the Wine Pairing Weekend group is exploring biodynamic wines from Willamette. If You're seeing this early, you can join the our Twitter chat scheduled 8-9 am PT.
