WBW #10: Pinot NOT Noir

When Alice announced this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBW) theme I was thrilled!  In fact, it is exactly what I would have chosen if I was hosting.  (I have volunteered to host, and this event has become so popular that I am scheduled for December 2006!)

During my recent Oregon Wine Tour, I had the opportunity to sample many Pinots – Noirs as well as non-Noirs.  Although, I’m pretty familiar with Gris/Grigio, I didn’t know much about Pinot Blanc and tried to focus a bit more on that grape.  I brought home a couple bottles, so when the theme was announced I looked through my stash and chose the Erath 2003 Willamette Valley Pinot Blanc.

Now, when I bought this wine, I had actually been thinking of consuming it on a hot summer’s day.  Well, it’s June in Seattle and, true to form, May’s nice weather has segued into gray and drizzly days, making you wonder if we are going to have a summer after all.  I’m sure that, as normal, the nice weather will return right after the 4th of July and we just have to make do in the meantime. 

I decided to heat things up in a different way (no, there’s no man involved, dang it!) by grabbing some Thai food from a little place down in my neighborhood.  So I popped the wine in a Rapid Ice Chiller while I ran down to pick up my take out order. If you don’t have one of these chillers I highly recommend them – they can chill a bottle of wine in 10 minutes!  And they are even handy when you have reds that are at "room temperature" but your room temperature is no where near cellar temperature.  Just leave them in the cooler for a couple of minutes and in no time you’ll have wine at the proper temp.  They also make a version sized specifically for champagne, although I normally just dunk that in a bucket of ice water. 

I sipped my wine and tearily (I had ordered 3 stars out of 4 but it was more like 5!) made my way through Pad Thai with Chicken and Prawn Delight while watching the Ms and Marlins.  (Oh, I guess there were men involved!)

 
Erath 2003 Willamette Valley Pinot Blanc (Oregon)

Eyes:  Beautiful, clear with a hint of the palest yellow

Nose:  Not too assertive.  Doesn’t give you much clue about what you are in for.  Very light hint of citrus and grass.

Taste:  Fresh, clean, lingers just a bit.  Still a little grassy with some pineapple.  Soft and round in the mouth.  With the Thai food the flavor became more pronounced, almost as if it just needed a challenge to assert itself. 

Price:  At the winery $13 US

Overall:  This wine is not at all complex but is completely suited for the purpose I had in mind – a refreshing drink on a hot summer day.  It went well with the Thai food and I think it might also make a nice white sangria to serve with brunch.  It would make a great picnic wine.  At $13, it’s a great value and you may even be able to find it discounted in the retail channel.