Pinot Noirs for Causal Summer Grill - Awesome Dessert Combo

Pinot Noirs for Causal Summer Grill - Awesome Dessert Combo

Invited over to Bill and Beth C's for a casual dinner of gourmet grilled burgers on the deck, Bill served one of my favorite Pinot Noirs, Domaine Serene Evensted Reserve Pinot Noir. For a comparison tasting, I took over a Ladera Pillow Road Vineyard Sonoma County Pinot Noir. To round out the comparison tasting, Bill had a Trader Joes Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.

Afterwards, Bill prepared grilled carmelized peaches marinated in a bourbon honey reduction served with ice cream. For such a delicious special treat, he poured a suitably fitting delicious dessert wine - Kracher Chardonnay TBA #9.

Domaine Serene Willamette Valley Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir 2005

Bill's notes from Cellartracker - My style of Pinot. Bright garnet in the glass. Plenty of structure. Complex layers of sour cherry, smoky blackberry and oak. Balanced but with the acidity one old expect and a tremendously long finish.

WCC - 90 points.

Linda and I discovered this wine at a memorable outing during one of our get-away weekends to Chicago,  at Smith & Wollensky sitting outside overlooking the river for a summer afternoon wine, salad and cheese interlude. 

My notes - This is my standard bearer for how a Pinot should taste. They produce at least three ultra premium priced pinots above this one, none of which have I tasted. I look forward to doing so at some point as I love this wine. I am not a fan, however of their lower priced entry level offering, Yamhill Cuvee. 

Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, scents of anise, full flavorful black fruits, hints of anise and spicy cinnamon with a touch of oaky vanilla on the smooth silky finish. 

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=373020 

http://www.domaineserene.com/

Ladera Pillow Road Vineyard Sonoma County Pinot Noir 2006

We first tasted this wine at the Ladera Winery up on Howell Mountain above Napa Valley, where they are known for their Cabernet Sauvignons, during our Napa Valley Wine Experience 2008. The Ladera owners, the Stotebery's also own this property up in Sebastopol on the southern end of the Russian River Valley about fifteen miles from the Sonoma Coast. They have 20 acres of Pinot Noir. 

Garnet colored, medium bodied, aromas of cherries, spice and cola with hints of oak which lingers on the finish.

RM 89 points.



https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=628937

http://www.pillowrd.com/



Trader Joe's Grand Reserve Lot #22 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2012

A respectable effort in this easy drinking entry level Pinot that provides reasonable QPR - Quality Price Ratio. Its hard to find a low end entry level Pinot such as this. Pick some up for pizza and moderate pasta dishes.

RM 85 points.

Alois Kracher Nouvelle Vague Chardonnay TBA (Trockenbereene Auslese) #9 2002

Austrian Alois Kracher produces some of the world's best dessert wines.

Bill's notes from Cellartracker - "Deep golden amber color. Peach and honey on the palate with just enough acidity to keep this from being cloying. Served with grilled peaches infused with bourbon and honey topped with peach ice cream."

WCC 91 points. 

My notes - Like other Krachers, this one exhibits honey color and is full bodied, thick and chewy - compared to other Krachers, this one has an essence of honey moreso than fruit flavors, still flavorful with a hint of apricot and hasn't given way to more neutral smoke and nut flavors that sometimes set in as the fruit diminishes ...

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=50502

Bourbon and honey infused grilled peach.

Bourbon, honey infused peaches with
ice cream.

Napa Cab Duo and Tomahawk Rib-eye Feast - Ruster Ausbruch, Flowers Chardonnay

Napa Cab Duo and Tomahawk Rib-eye Feast - Ruster Ausbruch, Flowers Chardonnay

Perhaps the ultimate grilled steak may be the 'tomahawk' bone in rib-eye (shown left), a cut with the full bone resulting in a tomahawk shaped beefsteak. What fun to have these whilst in the middle of our beloved Blackhawk's run for the championship Stanley Cup. Also shown is Mark with the Atlantic Coho Salmon filets.

For such as feast at Mark Z's, we took two 2004 vintage Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon blends - Robert Craig Affinity and Beaulieu Vineyards Tapestry Reserve. Both were decanted before serving.

Before dinner we opened a Ruster Ausbruch Austrian Chardonnay blend based dessert wine which we tasted with artisan cheeses and French breads.

Mark also prepared grilled Scottish North  Atlantic Coho wood plank Salmon (pictured above left) with which we served a Flowers Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2007. Completing the dinner were twice baked potatoes and steamed grand purple asparagus spears.

The wine flight is pictured left.


Herbert Triebaumer Ruster Ausbruch Burgenland Neusiedlersee-Hügelland Rust 1996/1997

Burgenland is a wine region in Austria along the Hungarian border, across from the region that produces Tokaji dessert wines. Neusiedlersee-Hügelland (Neusiedler Lake Highlands) is one of the sub-regions of the area, adjacent to and influenced by the Neusiedler Lake (Neusiedlersee) body of water that defines the region.  This northernmost Neusiedlersee area produces full-bodied white wines, including the country's best Chardonnays. Due to the vineyards proximity to the lake and the climatic hot Pannonian zone, the grapes develop the "noble rot" (botrytis cinerea) which creates heady dessert wines.Rust is a village in the Neusiedler Lake Highlands, where the famous Ruster Ausbruch dessert wines are produced.

The label says Erzeugerabfüllung which would translate to producer's bottling or what we would call 'Estate Bottled' in America or Chateau Bottled (mis en bouteille au chateau, ala bottled at the chateau) in France, meaning the grapes are grown of sourced on the producer's property and the wine is produced by the land (estate or chateau) owner.


This is a Chardonnay blend of Fürmint and Gelber Muskatellier (Furmint and Gold Muscatel grape varieties). While this was no doubt straw colored upon release, over time it darkened to butter color, then weak tea colored, eventually darkening to the dark orange rust color it possesses now. Allowed to continue to age, this will likely eventually darken to dark strong tea color, although I suspect it won't necessarily improve the flavor and suitability of the wine. Some classic dessert wines are built to last decades, I suspect this Ruster Ausbruch is at or even past its peak drinking window. We still have a case of this wine, so watch this blog as we monitor this over the coming months and years.

The thick almost syrupy extracted sweet fruit was offset by a smoky almond nut flavor. Rather than the highly desirable apricot or peach flavors, this tended to be more cirtus focused. This was a great complement to hard Parmesan cheese.

RM 88 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1455246

Robert Craig Napa Valley Affinity Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 

Robert Craig produces this blend of Napa Valley Cabernets from his various vineyard sources on Mt Veeder, Howell Mtn and Napa Valley. He also sources fruit from Mt George and Spring Mtn distict for his wines. He calls Affinity 'three mountains and a valley cabernet'. Its produced for early enjoyment but we continue to find it ages well too. We continue to hold a vertical of this wine dating back to the inaugural 1993 vintage. This wine was a highlight of the evening and was a perfect pairing with the grilled rib-eye steaks, and also went especially well with the the pre-dinner double Gloucester cheese.

Consistent with earlier tasting notes, deep dark purple inky color, huge ripe berry fruit aromatics, full body, ripe berry fruit, accented by a undercurrent of caramel with a hint of anise, tobacco and firm full tannins on the long fruit filled finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=323482

Beaulieu Vineyards Tapestry Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

In the comparison tasting, while this went well with the grilled steak, it was overshadowed by the big aromatic fruit of the Affinity.

Consistent with earlier tasting notes, dark garnet colored, medium-full bodied, a bit tight and closed, the black berry fruits were a bit overtaken by tones of tea, tobacco and hints of cedar, anise and smokey oak on a moderate tannin lingering finish.

RM 89

 https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=410294




Flowers Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2007

This Chardonnay went well with the salmon and the white cheeses. Light to golden straw colored, balanced and full complex layers accented by lemon citrus, tones of mineral and a hint of vanilla, pear and buttery oak, giving way to citrus on the crisp clean finish. This wine is a blend of several Sonoma Coast vineyards, including Camp Meeting Ridge ; a blend of Dijon clones (95 and 76), mature vine clone 4, and the low-yielding "Old Wente" selection.

RM 87 points.  .

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=595115

http://flowerswinery.com/ 

Varner Santa Cruz Mountain Chardonnay 2009

Varner Santa Cruz Mountains Spring Ridge Vineyard Ampitheatre Block Chardonnay 2009

Liat, our friend from Northern California visited and L prepared a Salmon with a  tangy Mango and Cilantro sauce and we served this Chardonnay which was a perfect accompaniment to the entree. It also was a toast to Liat's Northern California Santa Cruz Mountain roots in Los Gatos and long time homestead in the area high above Scott's Valley on Vinehill Road on the site of the old Smothers' Brothers vineyard estate.

Located in the Santa Cruz Mountains south and west of the San Francisco Bay tucked back in the Portola Valley west of Stanford University in the Santa Cruz Appellation, Varner Wines are the product of twin brothers Bob and Jim Varner. This area is not well known for Chardonnay but this 'Amphitheatre Vineyard' Chardonnay is highly regarded and much sought after. The Varner 'Amphitheatre Vineyard' Chardonnay represents a sense of place or "terroir". 

Winemaker Bob Varner selects fruit from the "Amphitheater Block" of their Spring Ridge Vineyard, which was first planted in 1980. This area has never been afflicted with Phyloxera so the vines are from the original root stock and plantings. Varner uses non-interventionist farming practices and native yeast fermentation, yielding a pleasant and impressive wine with character that is crisp and citrusy, with plenty of acidity and minerality. This wine is also a considerable value for the money.

This label is less well known perhaps than their Foxglove label, a line of affordable wines, which offer a high QPR - quality to price ratio; this is from their higher end offerings which are single vineyard and in this case single block designated bottlings. The Varner Spring Ridge Vineyard Amphitheater Block Chardonnay comes from a two-acre block of own-rooted, 28-year-old vines and is aged in 30% new French oak on its lees until bottling.


The Varner Santa Cruz Mountains Spring Ridge Vineyard Ampitheatre Block Chardonnay 2009 was subdued and not over the top like so many Cal chardonnays - medium to full body, excellent texture with aromatic notes of honeysuckle, subtle oak, spice and lemon oil, it features flavors of baked apple, lemon and pear with moderate minerality and a crisp, steely component, with balanced acidity. 


RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1137045

http://www.varnerwine.com/ 

Beringer Vineyards Nightingale Napa Valley Botytised Semillion Sauvignon Blanc 2004

 For dessert, Linda prepared warm individual chocolate cakes served with ice cream and fresh red raspberries. We  served this with  Beringer Vineyards Nightingale Napa Valley Botytised Semillion Sauvignon Blanc 2004 which accented the red berry fruits and chocolate perfectly.

Golden yellow on release, this eight year old is taking on a weak tea honey colored hue that will continue to darken with age. Medium to full bodied, scents and flavors of honey, apricot and melon finish with a subtle layer of smoke that moderates the fruit and sweetness.

This smokey current greatly resembles the profile of the Beringer Late Harvest Special Select Johannisburg Riesling 1993 that we have tasted over the ensuing eighteen years since release.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=441964