Tag Archives: pinot blanc

A White Wine for Fall and Winter (Yes, You Read That Correctly)

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Greetings, readers! It’s good to be back on the blog. The last time we spoke I was lauding the juicy scrumptiousness of blackberry wine. Then summer happened, brimming with fun in the sun, kid activities, a sickness or two, and a surgery for me. Sadly, my wine blogging ambitions had to take a backseat. Life gets busy and in those down moments it was often my desire for a nap or Netflix that won out.

But it’s time to get back to business. There are just too darn many amazing wines to write about and to try. I love the French saying, “Life’s too short to drink bad wine” but honestly the motto that resonates most with me is “So many wines, so little time.” (Anyone know where I can get that as a T-shirt of baseball cap?) 😉

Harvested grapes at David Hill Vineyards

Harvested grapes waiting to be turned into wine.

ANYWAY…. It’s November. Fall is well underway, the harvest has happened, the elections are over, and Thanksgiving is staring us in the face, just over the river and through the woods (not to fear, my Thanksgiving wine recommendation will be coming up next!). Everyone take a Deep. Calming. Breath. I’m enjoying the fact that there are still some vividly colored leaves hanging on to the trees, illuminating otherwise often-gloomy grey skies.

November to me is when we settle in collectively for a season of coziness. I’m making lots of soups for dinner, snuggling in ultra-soft blankets, and filling my coffee with pumpkin spice creamer. Cozy and homey. My wineglass lately has been full of excellent Pinot Noirs, whose lightness and complexity beg for the kind of contemplative savoring unique to fall.

But we’ll save Pinot Noir for another day… what I most want to talk to you about today is an unusual Pinot Blanc. I tried this particular wine in Oregon a month ago. It truly embodies the spirit of fall in a white wine. This Pinot Blanc is from David Hill Winery in Forest Grove, Oregon. David Hill Vineyards and Winery is LIVE certified and uses low impact, organic farming methods to pamper these special grapes and bring out their maximum potential, and the efforts pay off handsomely in delicious wines.

David Hill Vineyards & Winery, Forest Grove, OR

The day we tasted at David Hill Winery. Heaven on earth.

As I may have mentioned before, Oregon white wines have seriously captured my fancy and have been commanding plenty of attention as of late. This winery is a wonderful place to discover some phenomenal old-growth varieties and taste a spectacular array of wines.

The oldest vines in the vineyard were planted from rootstock, brought back from Alsace, France, by UC Davis graduate Charles Coury in 1965. Wines made from Coury’s plantings are part of the winery’s Discovery Series label. Some of the other intriguing varieties include Riesling, Sylvaner, Chasselas, Melon de Bourgogne, Gewürztraminer, and Pinot Noir. The Sylvaner may very well be getting its own blog post here in the future, and my husband and I are huge fans of their noble rot-affected Riesling. 😋

Wine grapes at David Hill Vineyards

White wine grapes just about ready for harvest at David Hill Vineyards. Soaking up that golden sunshine.

Come get to know this Pinot Blanc that is unlike any other Pinot Blanc I’ve had to date:
David Hill Vineyards & Winery Tualatin Hills Block 22 Pinot Blanc 2023

  • David Hill Vineyards & Winery Discovery Series 2023 Block 22 Pinot Blanc
  • 100% Estate-Grown Pinot Blanc
  • Get this: this wine is aged in 100% chestnut barrels. Chestnut barrel aged wines are something you don’t taste everyday. Chestnut wood barrels were used in many European wineries before a global blight wiped out a large portion of chestnut trees. So it’s a real treat to taste a wine fermented and aged in something besides oak, stainless steel, or concrete.
  • $32/bottle
  • ABV 11.28%
  • From the tasting notes: “Aromas of golden apple and brown pear with a hint of nectarine and river rock meet the freshness of dill and fennel to round out the nose of our 2023 Pinot Blanc.” These notes carry over to the palate “along with subtle Marcona almond” giving “a warming, comforting… textural component through the finish. This wine is reminiscent of… fall spices and late summer notes.”

Isn’t that just gorgeous? 🍂

You need this wine for light refreshment when you are outside enjoying a still-warm autumn afternoon, just as much as you need this wine when you are indoors, at night, curled up on the couch next to a fireplace, ready to relax and soak in all this wine’s autumnal glory. And it’s begging to play with fancy cheeses. 🙂 It’s got it all!

So don’t EVER put away your whites, just because it’s after Labor Day. 😉 This rich and complex Pinot Blanc is perfect for fall, winter, and beyond.

Cheers! 🙂 🥂

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Charcuterie with my Cuties and Wine for Valentine’s Night

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Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope however you are celebrating today that you are feeling the love. ❤

If you are thinking “I’d like to make this day a little extra Valentine-y” but don’t want to go down the usual routes; if you need inspiration for a dinner that is delicious, interesting, fun, and relatively inexpensive (it’s utterly flexible), and is also something slightly fancy for the love holiday, look no further. It also does not require a reservation, parking, dressing up, and the like. It’s great for one person, for a couple, or for as large or small a group as you desire. So if that’s you this Valentine’s Day, I’ve got you covered.

One of the great things about wine is the special company it keeps with food. And the illustrious charcuterie board (a.k.a. Lunchables for Grown-Ups) has become the golden standard for enjoying with wine. In case you need enlightening, a charcuterie board is simply several types of prepared meats served with various cheeses, crackers, breads, nuts, olives, fruit, assorted condiments like mustard, jam, etc. all presented together on a large serving platter.

During the pandemic, when we were not eating out because restaurants were only offering to-go, I decided to throw together an epic smorgasbord with anything and everything charcuterie-related: several types of cheese and crackers, a couple salamis or other meats, sliced pears, berries, grapes, nuts, etc. I also bought several bottles of wine to pair specifically with the cheeses I had selected. We dined al fresco.

The kids LOVED it, because they got to eat cheese, crackers, and salami for dinner, and put what they wanted on their plates. I loved it for obvious reasons and also for the rare praises instead of moans and complaints from the picky eater cohort.

We did this a couple times and since it’s been a while, I decided it would be fun to do it again for Valentine’s night.

I slaved so hard in the kitchen… opening up packaged stuff and putting it on a platter, I’m exhausted… 😉

I’ve got a cheese collection from Costco (the Kirkland Signature Cheese Flight they sell around the winter holidays) which features the following cheeses: cow’s milk cheese from Belgium, aged cow’s milk cheddar from England, goat’s milk cheese with honey from Spain, sheep’s milk pecorino cheese with truffles from Italy, and cow’s milk cheese with tomatoes, onions, and spices from the USA.

When you make a charcuterie board, you can use whatever cheeses you like, but to keep it interesting, aim for:

– three to four (or more!) different cheeses
– a mix of soft, semi-soft, and hard cheeses
– a mix of different types of milk (e.g. sheep, cow, goat)

For wine, I went with a black pinot and a white pinot (literally Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc) from different AVAs (American Viticultural Areas – unique designated wine grape growing areas) in Washington and Oregon. According to Erin Doman, all Pinots (Noir, Gris, Blanc, Meunier, etc.) are mutations of the same variety.

We’re drinking Skagit Crest Vineyard & Winery Pinot Blanc from Washington (specifically the Puget Sound AVA) and River’s Edge Winery Barrel Select Pinot Noir from Oregon (specifically the Elkton AVA, one of Oregon’s newer AVAs). You can pair almost any wine with various cheeses (more on that later), but for this article’s sake I am just focusing on these two elegant beauties.

Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc grapes both make lighter bodied wines with moderately strong acidity (makes your mouth pucker) so they work especially well when paired with creamy cheeses. Some wines are great on their own and some are meant to be drunk with food. These wines are delightful each on their own and they shine bright with the cheeses.

The River’s Edge Pinot is bursting with juicy, plush aromas of dark cherry, blueberry, spices, and something woody. My favorite cheese match with the Pinot Noir is the Italian pecorino with truffles. The truffle notes in the cheese really complement the mushroom notes in the Pinot Noir. So earthy and complex, I love it! This is a great Pinot Noir for wine drinkers who like full flavors and good substance (like me, ha ha). 🙂

Skagit Crest’s Pinot Blanc is an exceptional companion to cheese! It is like smelling a springtime wedding: flowers hugged by some robust honeycomb, lime, grapefruit, and a little gravel. On the palate there is excellent acidity with no astringency or harshness, moderate alcohol and flavors of stone and citrus fruits. It’s very similar to Pinot Gris/Grigio (same grape, just French and Italian names), but I love this subtly different and refreshing change from typical Pinot Gris. For cheese partners, the Belgian cheese and the Spanish honey goat cheese were both great with this wine.

I am hoping to do more food and wine pairing recommendations in the future, but for now would highly encourage you to seek out these particular wines and enjoy them with some cheese. Bon appétit!