Sonoma County Vineyard

Sunday, March 7, 2010

The Oscars, I guess

I'm not a movie buff. In fact, most movies I just pass by. But tonight when we happened to be watching the red carpet show prior to the Academy Awards and it hit me. The red carpet us just like Pinot Noir. Which was really funny because I had already planned on opening a Pinot for tonight's dinner.

Pinot is everything the red carpet is: Red (of course), soft, sexy, velvety, luscious and in the best cases complex.

Tonight, we opened a 2005 Landmark Kanzler Pinot Noir....I bought this a couple of years ago and managed to put it away in my cellar and forget about it. It has developed beautifully. The nose was packed full of aromas like blackberry, plums, black pepper and little hints of smoke, redwood bark and barnyard - all pleasing smells. In the mouth, the wine is velvety, packed full of flavors and has an extremely long finish.

Landmark is steeped in history. Its roots are from the John Deere tractor family and was founded in Windor in the Russian River Valley. But today, you will find the winery and tasting room at the Northern end of Sonoma Valley. I actually happened to visit them this week. I was surprised and pleased to see sheep out in front of the tasting room....
The sheep eat a lot of the weeds that are not good for the vines. This only works in small vineyards, but can be very effective. They also leave behind some great fertilizer!
The reason I opened the Pinot Noir tonight was because my wife was making a new dish....
This pasta was absolutely restaurant quality. First she roasted a whole head of garlic along with tomatoes sprinkled with salt pepper and a little sugar for an entire hour. The smells filled up the whole house and were fabulous. I had also just finished baking my weekly sourdough and those aromas were still filling the air too. In addition, there was some fresh basil and mozzarella. All of these came together to create the perfect pasta. It paired splendidly with the Pinot we had opened. It was a good night.
Next time a big event comes on T.V., think about what wine might pair with it. It just might lead you to open a bottle and enjoy it!

Cheers!

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