Monday, March 21, 2011

De Loach 2006 Pinot Noir - Russian River Valley (California)

This wine was brought to our house about 6 months ago as a house-warming gift.  Now usually when I get a gift like that I enjoy opening it with the guests that brought it, but sometimes that is not always possible ... as was the case with this bottle; so tonight, when I heard we were doing roast chicken for dinner, I thought it would be a good complement to the meal.  As usual I opened the wine up while dinner was cooking.  The smells were what I expect from a California Pinot, lots of red fruit, this time cherry, with a hint of vanilla (not too much) - these smells continued through to the end ... it was the palate that changed over the course of an hour or so.  Flavours started off cherry with spice and a touch of tannins, that I felt would benefit from a couple more years in the cellar to mellow; the finish was that of raspberry-cranberry and spice with a medium length to it.  Within an hour those tannins subsided leaving the wine mellow and smooth with plenty of lovely red fruits to dance across the tongue.  As for the chicken, it never turned out quite like we wanted, so we ordered pizza instead ... the wine still worked well with it - you can pair a delicious wine with just about anything.

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