Thursday, April 5, 2012

The Pinot Noir Project

After 10 months of pregnancy, about 18 hours of labor and 8 weeks of adjusting to life with a new baby, this blog is back! After the birth of my daughter Morleigh on Feb 9 2012, I wasted no time getting back into the swing of things, wine-wise thanks to the magic of breast pumps! I was given a six month subscription to Wine Access magazine from my husband, downloaded the blogger app, opened an account on pinterest that is almost entirely food and wine specific (you can find me as saramantle) and I picked up the October 2011 edition of Wine Spectator just before Christmas. The feature story that month is all about the 2009 vintage of Pinot Noirs in California and the great crop of wines that came out of the Sonoma Valley specifically. It got me thinking about how little I know about, and drink, this varietal. So why not spend 2012 learning as much as I can about it, and taste various Pinots from as many different wine regions as possible, without breaking the bank?

Pinot Noir grapes originate in the Burgundy region of France and can be traced back as far as 4 BC. The fruit is highly sensitive and requires a long growing season without excessive heat and moisture; it thrives best in moderate climates. This high maintenance varietal requires lots of care while growing in the vineyard as the grapes have thin skins, making them very susceptible to botrytis and various viruses. The best Pinot Noir wines will be complex, showcasing flavors of red fruit first, with vegetal and animal subtlety. Tannins tend to be low to medium and acidity is medium to high. The wines generally do not age well, although there are a few exceptions to this rule. Pinot Noir grapes are also combined with Chardonnay and sometimes Pinot Meunière grapes as well to make champagne. Mmmmm, champagne...

I plan to taste wines from the following regions, all as 2009 vintages:
-AOC Burgundy
-Sonoma, CA
-New Zealand
-Canada, both BC and Niagara regions
-Romania, if I can find it
-South Africa, if I can find a good one.
I am also aiming to try and pick wines that have a "rating" of more than 80 points in order to find very good wines that reflect the qualities of what a good Pinot Noir should be.

This project is set to start over Easter weekend with the benchmark region for Pinot Noir, AOC Burgundy. According to my wine pairing wheel, a full-bodied Pinot can pair well with a roast leg of lamb. With a little help from the good people at my favorite wine store, I selected 2 bottles of Louis Latour 2009 Appellation Bourgogne Controlee. The price of each bottle in CDN was $21 each. The wine was given 86 points by Wine Access magazine, and averaged 84 points among users on snooth.com. I used the first bottle of wine in the marinade for the lamb to help soften the harsh flavor of the lamb and to help with the pairing. The lamb will be served with a Mediterranean style vegetable caponata, and paska, a traditional Ukranian Easter bread.

I will also be pairing some of the Pinots I try with two other meals: one will be steaks with wild mushrooms, and salmon. Recipes and wine pairings to be determined later.

Some of the other Pinot winemakers on my radar include (if I can find them locally in a 2009 vintage):
-Robert Mondavi PN Napa Valley Carneros 2009
-Any of the 2009 PNs from Loring or Siduri vineyards (California)
-Inniskillin Niagara 2009 Winemaker's Series Three Vineyards
-Quail's Gate 2009 Pinot Noir
-Nk'Mip 2009 Pinot Noir
Although I will likely not make it to all the wines on the above list, I will certainly make a valiant effort!

If you have any 2009 Pinot Noirs that you personally recommend, especially wines from New Zealand, please let me know as this list is not set in stone. Stay tuned throughout the year as I post my tasting notes and share my experiences in my Pinot Noir project!



Saturday, January 14, 2012

Better Late Than Never!

Six months ago I took the WSET Level II Intermediate course to further expand my knowledge of wines & spirits. As of last week, I hadn't received my certificate, but suspected I had passed the course. So I called up the course provider to see if they had the certificate, or knew whom I should contact to find out my course results. It turns out my certificate had been sitting there for months! Now the certificate is with me waiting to be hung on the wall, and I am so happy to see I did better than I thought I did: Pass with Distinction!

Two courses down, one more to go to reach my goal!



Monday, August 29, 2011

Quin-wha?

After a brief hiatus from blogging, I have returned with a healthy vengeance! For those who don't already know, I am 18 weeks pregnant. What this means for the blog is that I have to give up wine (sob!) and start watching what I eat more closely. No more sushi, no more lunch meats, no more soft/unpasteurized cheeses...but that doesn't mean that I can't have fun with food anymore! One of these fun, healthy foods I have been enjoying of late is quinoa.



If you are unfamiliar with quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wa), it's a grain that is said to originate in the Andean region of South America. What makes this food so super is that it's known as a complete protein, containing all 9 essential amino acids, making this a great food for the vegetarian/vegan diet. It is also gluten-free, great for celiacs too! All this on top of being fun to say, of course :P Quinoa can be cooked up like rice, couscous, etc, or eaten raw, but I find it best to rinse it first to remove it's bitter coating.


My vegetarian mother introduced me to quinoa a couple of years ago while I was visiting her back in my hometown. She likes to cook hers up and grill it in a wrap on a panini press with various vegetables she has in the house-she also includes hummus and sometimes cheese. One time she threw avocado in a wrap she made for me, WOW! I was sold on quinoa in that moment!


We've had quinoa in the house for the past week and since I'm a "qui-newbie" with using it, I referred to some of my cookbooks, as well as the internet, to see what I could do with it. I made 3 side dishes for 3 meals throughout the week to use it all up. A great time-saving tip I found on cookingquinoa.net is to cook up a large amount of quinoa at a time, way more than you need, and use it as you need it throughout the week.


The first dish I attempted was called Basil Quinoa with Red Bell Pepper. Cooked quinoa is tossed with red bell pepper in a pureed basil-parmesan-garlic-lemon homemade dressing. I served it as a side along roasted pork tenderloin in a curry paste rub. The recipe is found in the Sonoma Diet Cookbook. Although the recipe is definitely healthy, I found it to be lacking in taste, despite the fact that I used fresh basil, garlic, etc. I will make it again, but will double the dressing recipe for added flavor.




The next dish I tried was also from the Sonoma Diet Cookbook, Grilled Beef with Quinoa and Vegetables. In this dish, cooked quinoa is combined with green beans, roasted bell peppers, and a dressing that includes red wine vinegar, olives, and olive oil. I had to make a few changes because I didn't have olives, and I prefer to eat my bell peppers raw instead of roasted. I served it alongside a top sirloin steak with a fennel seed rub. I will definitely make this again!



Finally, I found a great salad recipe on cookingquinoa.net that pairs fresh cherries and quinoa with other power foods such as spinach and walnuts. Click here to see the recipe! Of course, I made a few changes. Instead of goat's cheese I used cranberry/pepper flavoured Boursin cheese, I didn't toast my walnuts, and I thawed frozen cherries and used the leftover juice to make a cherry vinaigrette. In my opinion, this was the best of all 3 recipes I tried. The bitterness of the spinach and walnuts was muted but was still complemented by the sweetness of the cherries and the cheese. Wonderfully balanced dish. It got great reviews at the BBQ I originally served it at, and I liked it so much I made it again tonight (cheese-free) as an accompaniment to chicken breasts stuffed with the leftover Boursin.

Quinoa doesn't have to be limited to just sides and salads - there are tons of other great recipes for cooking with quinoa, including the ones on the website I mentioned above. There's a recipe on the site for flourless chocolate cake, and I definitely plan to try it sometime! All you have to do is look, cook and definitely open your mind. At first, I had no intention of trying quinoa. And thanks to my mom, I'm glad I did!

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