2007 Sineann Pinot Gris - Oregon

Since I saw that a friend is in Oregon this week, I thought we'd start with a recent find from the PNW.

I first ran into this nice Pinot Gris at my local wine shop, HMB Wine & Cheese at a "Look Ma, No Cork" themed tasting. No, not a screwtop or silly pseudo-cork, but a glass stopper known as a "vino-lok selection" tops this Alsace-style green bottle. Retailing at around $18, this is a fine value for an Oregon Pinot Gris.

Sourced from the Wy'east Vineyard in Hood River Valley, the fruit provides a structured, but not overloaded base for the clean high notes of green apple, citrus and pear to stand out. I'd hesitate to call this Peter Rosback produced wine understated, but it's certainly not the typical Oregon Pinot Gris we've been accustomed to in recent times. I'd argue it's more similar to a Southern Hemisphere Sauvignon Blanc with its solid base, but certainly brings the Pinot notes forward.

I enjoyed a bottle of this with a little linguini & prawns fra diavolo with an heirloom tomato & avocado salad. Its high notes were a great balance for both the creaminess of the avocado and the heat of the pasta dish.

90 Points

..and On With The Show. Wine for the Rest of Us.

Before getting too into the wine discussion, I wanted to chat briefly about what I'm trying to do with the wine blog. I've found, thru several years of my interest in wine, that there's a gap, that is, a place that retailers, and many wineries, have neglected to address. 

Sure, it's really easy to go to Bev-Mo or your local bottleshop/grocery store and pick up some mass produced, mediocre at-best wine. Also easy is to pop into your local wineshop and pick up a >$50 bottle of Cabernet or Pinot. It will be great and if your "Wine Monger" has done their job, then you'll have a great meal.

...but what about the rest of us? There seems to be an obvious hole there between mediocre at-best and a bottle of Grand Cru Burgundy, and that's what we'll try to share. REALLY good wine for a really reasonable price.

Remember, we're not talking cheap here, but if your budget is in the gap, then you're looking for wine for the rest of us.

Welcome!

Shares (not so) Well With Others

OK, OK...so I'm jealous of:

Joe Sarti, the torture master, eh, my trainer. He's on TOP of his blog.

Tracy Reifkind - Super inspiring. I try and think of Tracy whenever I'm having one of those "I don't feel like working out" days.

Tim Anderson - I train with Tim whenever I'm on the East Coast. He and his family are wonderful to be around and they're so welcoming and accommodating when I'm in town. Tim's a fine example that youth is NOT wasted on the young.

Jen Triplett, my newest kick-ass trackie friend (Holy geez, she rocked this weekend at the AVC!!! --- I'm UBER impressed at her riding! You should really watch her ride. Smoother than a baby's you know what.) I'm hoping she posts a few pics from this weekend and you know what? She's got her blog updated from this past weekend ALREADY! You freakin' rock, Jen!

...and plenty of others who are on top of things, being both creative and inclusive in their blogs, so I gotta get on it!

So now it's finally time to do something about it. An occasional workout buddy saidt to me the other day, "hey, you should blog about the wine"...so here we are. Let's DO this, already.

We'll try and do a weekly wine review/suggestion (one red, one white and maybe an occasional pink), so feel free to send along a few bottles for our consideration  :-)   Also on tap are happenings in the local cycling scene, an occasional restaurant review, my famous rants on politics, and what's new in the contemporary (not smooth) and Nu-Jazz worlds...basically, all the other crap!