Simply Wine!

OK, here is a sample of how we would like to share our "wine finds" with you! Laura found this one in a little Italian place in Denver, CO. Nothing like a nice plate of pasta after a long mountain bike ride!



2004 Five Rivers Pinot Noir; Santa Barbara County, CA ($12.99)

You're Probably only going to find this one in wine shops; Not your local grocery store, Costco or Cost Plus! (Which is a bummer 'cause it was good) We found it at Applejack Wine Shop, here in Denver. This place is HUGE and deserves it's own post on the blog. Maybe they will let me take a few pics in there and I can post them here!

If you're new to wine, Pinot Noir is probably somewhat mysterious to you. Everyone knows Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet. Here is our quick lesson on Pinot. You can put them into two distinct categories; Fruit driven, described as "jammy","berry" or "fruity" and terrior driven (cork dork speak for earth) often described as "dirty", "earthy", "tobacco" and "smoky". We both prefer "earthy" when it comes to Pinots'. It has been our experience that most of the Pinot coming from Santa Barbara (also considered the Central Coast of California growing regions) leans towards the "fruity" category and we usually pass them up for something from Oregon, which we feel lean more towards the "earthy" side.

Laura really felt like a glass of Pinot at this particular restaurant. Their glass pour selection was pretty limited (it was an Italian place, they want you to drink Chianti, but that's for another post). The menu described this pinot as "earthy" so she decided to give it a try. . She tried it and was impressed. Then I sampled it and was impressed too! It was indeed earthy and slightly smoky. Not to the level of a good Oregon Pinot, but good none the less. The fruit was still there, it just wasn't the first thing that hit you.

So, what would you serve this with? I would say pasta with a simple marinara sauce works just about right. However, if you like a really spicy sauce or you add, say, Italian sausage to the sauce, you would just over power the wine. Spicy or zesty sauces would deserve the Chianti mentioned above. However, if mild is your preference, Five Rivers will work well for you. You could also serve this with a cheese course using the same logic, anything strong (think "stinky") will over power this one, but at this price it's hard to beat.

-Rich-