Friday, October 7, 2016

 Sept. 2016            

 Pinot, Pinot and more about Pinot

As we do for many months of each year, we discuss, taste and share a product of focus. Yes, this beautiful month of harvest we reflected on Pinot Noir.

Our first ever Library Tasting and Sale offered for a weekend in September and the following weekend , a sit down tasting of five vintages and food to pair.



The Library sale was a huge success as many of our fans don't have the room or experience with cellaring wine in hopes of a great return in flavor.
We offered ten wines from 2005, 2006, 2007 and the 2008 vintages. We had a wide range of favorites!
Some smaller lots sold out quickly and a few larger lots we still have some remaining. Nothing too much left as  we only hold back 10 cases each year and the amount gets dwindled away through the years.

So many of our guests were really thrilled to see a ten year old Pinot tasting so wonderful.

The Dinner the following weekend focused on all TNT Vineyard. We started with the 2006 to taste and then moved into all four vintages 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 with a five course pairing dinner.
2009 and 2012 wines come from a fairly warm vintage, the wines are still tasting full while the 2010 and 2011 vintages are  more on the elegant side.




We love curry with Pinot so, the first course the chef created a curry vegetable pizza with goat cheese. the 2010 TnT Pinot was the favored wine with the 2009 coming in 2nd.

Second course was a pasta with fresh wild mushrooms and a light gorgonzola sauce, surprisingly great with the wines. I was certain the boldest of the Pinot's would be best to cut through the richness but in fact the 2010 won the best pairing wine. ( sorry no photo )

Next up, classic Pinot pairing Duck Confit from our local farmer Liberty Farms. Rich and beautiful duck cook in it's own juices, so good with Pinot. The winner of this evening was the 2009.

 Pork Loin with a Pinot reduction sauce and Faro salad. Without the sauce this dish pairs with a lot of wines. But, the Pinot reduction brought the fruit component to match. The 2010, 2011 and 2012 were all favorites paired with this dish.


We finished the evening with a rare favorite that yes, does go with pinot. We discovered this years ago with our friends Ali and Jim. She is a great home baker and loves to perfect a recipe. Through a lot of taste testing we found the Russian Tea cookies filled with Raspberry jam pairs with Pinot. What a great way to finish a Pinot focused dinner.


The favorite dish of the evening was the Duck Confit and pasta with mushroom sauce second.
The favorite wine of the night was a tie between 2009 and 2010. This just reirates our constant need to taste and talk about what we're eating and drinking and pairing. It's just so much fun too!