2005 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Unlike my other contributors, I am not much of a blogger, so I will probably be more of a silent contributor contributing on a more sporadic basis.

For the last couple of evenings I have been enjoying a bottle of 2005 Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley. I remember obtaining this bottle on my first trip to the vineyard when I became a member of the wine guild. It must be noted that I am preferential to white wines, and generally only drink reds when I "have" to.

I want to talk a bit about this award winning wine. The color of it is one of the first things that I notice. Holding it up to light, it has the appearance of a deep grape red color. When swirled it lightly coats the glass. The nose on this Pinot is not too strong - it enters the nostrils warmly, and has a very light tart aroma. If you don't let it breathe a bit, both in the bottle and in your glass, the first sip can be a bit strong. After a few moments, however, one gets to taste a real full flavor that lasts just for a moment as the wine goes down the throat - there is no real aftertaste, and it is surprising that for such full flavor, it doesn't linger. This could be a good thing for those of us who are not overly huge fans of red wines.

In one of his recent posts, Desilet talked about what he imagined his wine to go well with. This afternoon and now, while enjoying glasses of this Pinot, I imagine it going well with a nice medium rare Fillet Mignon (and I like my meat well done), lightly grilled potatoes seasoned in garlic and rosemary, with asparagus and carrots as the vegetables. This could also go well with a nice lamb.