Tag Archives: Pinot Noir

Don’t forget to get in the red

09 Wednesday Dec 2015

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Red Wine

From holiday parties to New Year’s countdowns, the season’s state of wine is typically all things bubbly. And while we love Champagne, Prosecco and everything in between, we think it’s important to give America’s most popular wine type its proper due. So let’s toast the red-hot reds of Total Wine & More’s top 10 red wines for 2015. Whether you’re taking a break from last-minute shopping, writing up your resolutions or curling up in front of a roaring fire, our list has a red wine for every occasion.

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Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world’s top wine grapes and for good reason. Aficionados love the wine’s rich and delicious flavors. Winemakers love it for the same reason, and it doesn’t hurt that the hearty skin of the grape makes it resistant against rot and frost and more accommodating to a variety of climates. While it first achieved acclaim in Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon has enjoyed equal if not greater success in California, helping wineries like Caymus and Stags’ Leap become titans in the industry. This year, our top red is Montoya Cabernet from the famed Napa Valley. Like all great Cabernets, Montoya offers an abundance of dark fruit flavors, including blackberry, plum and currant. It’s perfect for a hearty winter meal of grilled steak.

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Why do so many people love Pinot Noir? Thanks to its traditionally light-bodied nature, it’s very easy to drink. Its typical flavor profile of red fruits, such as cherry and cranberry, only add to its drinkability. And last, but certainly not least, it pairs well with just about any food, from beef to poultry to fish. The second spot on our list belongs to Domaine Loubejac Pinot Noir, which hails from the Willamette Valley, one of Oregon’s most talked-about wine-producing regions. With flavors of black cherry, raspberry, sweet herbs and rose petals, it is a delight to drink from start to finish.

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Rounding out the top three, we chose a wine that is a testament to the winemaking power of South America. The Malbec grape made its way from France to the Andean foothills of Argentina in the 19th century and has been dominating the country’s wine industry ever since. Flichman Malbec Tupungato represents the extraordinary value Malbec wines have to offer. An intense, full-bodied wine, it boasts big flavors of black fruits, licorice and pepper with a spicy finish.

Our list also showcases great reds from Marche, Italy; Rioja, Spain; Bordeaux, France and other world-class wine regions. So this holiday season, stop by Total Wine & More and make room in your cart for our favorite reds.

Last-minute wines for the Thanksgiving win

24 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Thanksgiving, Wine

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Between handling airport pick-ups and stocking up on essentials from cranberry sauce to ingredients for your great aunt’s famous stuffing, it’s tough to find time for wine. That’s why we’ve put together a list of last-minute favorites that will pair beautifully with your Thanksgiving dinner and impress even the most discerning in-law.

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Photo credit: Dr. Heidemanns-Bergweiler

The Mosel is home to some of Germany’s very best Rieslings, and Dr. Heidemanns-Bergweiler Riesling QbA is no exception. Riesling and Thanksgiving are well-matched, since the wine’s lightness, acidity and fruitiness make it a perfect companion to sweet dishes like candied yams as well as rich sides like stuffing. Boasting an 88-point rating from Wine Spectator, Dr. Heidemanns-Bergweiler Riesling QbA offers great flavors of peach and ripe apple. Hints of cream and honey give this wine a delightful finish that will pair perfectly with your first, second and third helpings of turkey.

There are many reasons to love Pinot Noir. But one of its signature strengths plays a critical role during the holidays: It’s hard to find a food it doesn’t complement. This year, we’re toasting with Pinot Noir that hails from one of America’s hottest wine-making regions, Willamette Valley, Oregon. Kudos Pinot Noir Yamhill-Carlton District, Willamette Valley, is a perfect wine to give thanks with on name alone. It also happens to be a wonderfully flavorful wine with notes of black cherry and raspberry accented by aromas of white pepper, spice and rose.

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And last, but certainly not least: Muirwood Chardonnay Reserve Zanetta Cuvee, a wine that often makes our recommendation list, given its incredible value and delightfully expressive qualities. Produced from two vineyards in California’s famed Monterey County, it possesses flavors of pear and peach with a finish of vanilla and spice that lingers on the palate. The ripe fruit flavors of the wine counterbalance the richness of many Thanksgiving dishes, as well as the savory, earthy flavors of turkey.

Between last-minute grocery store trips and wondering again why you decided to host Thanksgiving, stop by Total Wine & More, and we’ll be ready with the most essential ingredient when it comes to celebrating the holidays.

You can also shop our Thanksgiving selections online by clicking here.

It’s Wil-LAM-ette, Damn It: An Introduction to a Great Wine Region

01 Wednesday May 2013

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OR Vyd 4“Oregon grapes have it tough,” says Karen MacNeil in The Wine Bible. Unpredictable weather changes along with sun and heat shortages in some years pose challenges to winemakers, she explains. Yet somehow complexity and unique characteristics emerge from the struggle to make great wines, particularly in the coolest region in the state: the Willamette Valley.

When he established Eyrie Vineyards in 1966, University of California at Davis-trained enologist David Lett planted the first commercial Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes in the Willamette Valley and the first Pinot Gris grapes in the United States. After spending the prior year in France’s cool winemaking regions of Burgundy and Alsace, the 25-year-old winemaker concluded that the best grapes grow in cool regions where ripening is a challenge. “California was just too hot. … That’s why I came to Oregon,” Lett told Wine Spectator in 1983.

Just south of Portland, the region runs along the Willamette River, which lies between the towering Cascade Mountains to the east and the Coast Range Mountains to the west. Here, vineyards dapple the many south-facing mountainsides to maximize sun exposure, while mountains insulate them from excessive rain and winds. The region’s red soils, known as “Jory” and “Nekia,” offer a well-suited grape-growing medium that is free draining with low fertility.

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Other pioneering winemakers followed Lett, building on his vision for the region. Today, Willamette and most of Oregon’s wine regions that emerged south of it specialize in Burgundy’s Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes as well as Alsace’s Pinot Gris. Known as “Pinot Grigio” in Italy, Oregon’s Pinot Gris wines—like their Pinot Noirs—are world class and have superseded Chardonnay as the state’s signature white grape.

Lett, who passed away in 2008, proved his California-Davis instructors wrong for their claim that European grapes would not survive in Oregon, let alone thrive. His 1975 Pinot Noir won first place in a French wine tasting in 1979 and again in 1980, prompting famous Burgundian wine merchant Robert Drouhin to buy land and open a vineyard in the Willamette Valley, as noted in The Oxford Companion to Wine.

Every year, the growing numbers of innovative winemakers meet in nearby McMinnville for the now world-famous International Pinot Noir Celebration—a testimony to the region’s triumph over the skeptics.

Should you take the opportunity to participate, be careful not to mispronounce Willamette (Wil-LAM-ette) to these many proud winemakers. As noted by wine podcaster Tim Elliot, it’s Willamette, damn it!