Partial to Pinot Noir?

DOMAINE DES ROCHES Domaine des Roches Cremant de Bourgogne

Cremant de Bourgogne
Brut Rosé $21/bottle

Appropriate, don't you think, to launch December with some holiday bubbles? Cremant de Bourgogne = Champagne-method sparkling wine from Burgundy. Like Napa Valley, there is often an up-charge for anything from Burgundy (except when you buy from Back Room Wines that is, where you only pay for the quality in the bottle. I take my parentheses mulligan for this worthy plug). Domaine des Roches Cremant de Bourgogne is 100% Pinot Noir.
It is particularly fleshy and rich for Brut Rosé or any sparkling wine, for that matter. Taste the spice and enjoy the fuller body of Pinot Noir in this exceptional value Sparkling Wine. I taste, and you'll taste too, pink grapefruit, red cherries, nectarines, black pepper, a touch of allspice, perhaps a little pomegranate. Perhaps. It's a classy way to start an evening and saving your bucks for some of the Pinots to follow.
Buy Domaine des Roches Brut Rose.

SOTER Pinot Noir "Beacon Hill"
Yamhill-Carlton District 2006 $48
My latest Food & Wine inspiration, surprising to say, was Thanksgiving cranberry sauce and Soter Pinot Noir. Honest, the almost-savory cranberry sauce, Holly's recipe, had a fruity dry "tang" that matched the Soter Pinot almost bulls-eye. Neither overwhelmed the other. If you're going to try it, and I suggest you do, just keep the sugar way low in your cranberry sauce.
Owned & made by Pinot-master Tony Soter. Burgundy meets America in this "forward, open-knit & opulent" Pinot Noir...for Willamette Valley. Compare it to the fine California Pinots in this email and you'll definitely appreciate its Willamette Valley flavor, acidity and structure. Taste bright cranberries, raspberries, almonds & rose petals. It's an either/or Pinot: either drink & enjoy now, or let it age. Will drink mighty fine through 2015.
Buy Soter Pinot Noir "Beacon Hill."

AUGUST WEST Pinot Noir "Rosella's Vineyard" Santa Lucia Highlands 2007 $40
Santa Lucia Highlands Pinots are famous for their spice, and the August West is spicy indeed! Think five spice - clove, black pepper, star anise, fennel & cinnamon - and you're on the right track.Don't forget the fruit: it's chock-full of ripe berries and cherries, then mocha and soy sauce for good measure. Co-owned and made by Ed Kurtzman, who also makes ROAR Pinots and others. He's very good at what he does. Did you see my August West Pinot and Five Spice Quail Food & Wine Blog a couple of weeks ago? Good reading-almost as good as the eating & drinking.
Buy August West Pinot Noir "Rosella's"

SIERRA MADRE VINEYARD Pinot Noir

Santa Maria Valley 2007 $40

Sipping the Sierra Madre as I compose. It's real time tasting notes! Dark, rich, brilliant Pinot color. Nose is classic quality Santa Maria Pinot: wild red fruits, a little blueberry, grapefruit, sage, raw meat. New French oak is there-I'd guess 1/3 new oak, maybe more. In the mouth, the fruit comes forward but no faster than the thyme and oil cured olives do. Intensity & elegance, two requisites for quality Pinot Noir, are here in spades. Quintessential Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir. I'd really like a ginger/soy glazed & grilled salmon stick right now. Buy Sierra Madre Vineyard Pinot Noir.

THREE SAINTS Pinot Noir
Santa Maria Valley 2007 $25
Interesting departure from the Sierra Madre above. As they're both from Santa Maria Valley, you'd think they'd be similar. Nope. The Three Saints is bigger, richer, fatter. Complexity is sacrificed for scrumptiousness. Ask me for a very tasty Pinot Noir and leave it at that, I'll recommend this Three Saints. The least complex Pinot on this list and the easiest one to like. Not a lick of "acquired taste" needed. Not better, nor worse, for being so. Just is. Buy Three Saints Pinot Noir.

PINOT SPECIAL
Buy a case of these Pinots, mixed or the same and get 15% off all the wines!
I'm happy to help you assemble a mixed case. Just ask.

Shipping Special
Buy 2 or more cases and
receive 15% off shipping.
From now through January.

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