Montinore Estate | Pinot Noir | 2005

Oregon's Willamette Valley is known for pinot noir, but I must have always been choosing poorly at the store until this one. It's got all those quintessential pinot noir elements: lighter body, good acidity, and the red fruit and earthy, smoky, mushroom-y flavors. It also manages to fall perfectly between the austere and sometimes disappointing Burgundies (in Burgundy, France, the red wines are always made from pinot noir grapes, but are always called after the place, not the grape) in my price range and the sometimes over-the-top ones of the hot California vineyards.

NAME: Montinore Estate
GRAPE: Pinot Noir
PLACE: Willamette Valley, Oregon
VINTAGE: 2005
STYLE: medium ruby in color, medium body, juicy, tasty, fruit forward, long & spicy finish
FLAVORS: red & black cherries, earthy, smoky, mushrooms and a little flowers
PAIRING: wild mushroom sauce on anything, poultry, pork
PRICE/SOURCE: $17.99