Winter’s Hill is one of our favorite wineries in Willamette Valley.  It is on our short list to recommend to people looking for two things – really delicious well made wine and the quintessential small family winery where you are bound to talk with one of the owners. We seldom leave their tasting room empty handed and as the season changes we have stocked up on their award winning Pinot blanc. Among other accolades, the wine was awarded the Best in Class Gold Medal at the Sunset International Wine Competition.

It is such an easy wine to pair. This wine is full of tropical fruit flavors, rich and full bodied with acidity as crisp as those little green lettuce shoots we see this time of year. If you follow Tasting Pour you know that Pinot blanc is not one of our favorite varietals. Winter’s Hill takes the “blah” out of blanc and gives us a zesty, fruity accompaniment great for spring meals. Read our full review of this winery at American Winery Guide.

We cannot wait for April each year. In April we try to eat asparagus every day. It is like waking from winter hibernation to sink our teeth into a crispy stalk. For our pairing with Winter’s Hill Pinot Blanc we made our favorite asparagus dish, This dish was inspired by Emeril Lagasse and the original can be found here.

Bitter arugula, salty parmigiano, smokey bacon, and grassy sweet asparagus are tossed in a tangy dressing of honey, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, white truffle oil and of course our absolute go to artisan olive oil from Red Ridge Farms. Topped with an egg over easy this makes a balanced weeknight meal. And the Winter’s Hill Pinot Blanc is so delicious you can enjoy a glass while cooking.

For some reason people get bent out of shape about the “challenge” of pairing wines with summer vegetables. It is so easy. Remember match the weight – lighter food, lighter wine. Match flavors – grassy vegetal notes found in Sauvignon Blanc, a Marsanne/Roussanne blend, and unoaked cool climate Chardonnay are great choices. Add complimentary flavors – do you like a little citrus squeezed on fresh veggies? Think about crisp fruity wines like Albarino or Vinho Verde.

For even more ideas, let’s see what Springtime pairings our wine pairing weekend friends have been cooking up.

Reflection of Character

We love that many Oregon wineries choose to honor their family members when naming their wines.  We tasted the Bjornson Vineyard Edward Barrel Selection Pinot Noir and wondered “who is Edward?” Edward was Pattie Bjornson’s Grandfather, a fireman in Minnesota.  Mark Bjornson tells of attending the Firemen’s Ball with Edward. “One of Ed’s colleagues pulled me aside and said he remembered ‘that old b*st*rd in the fire of ’38 went up the ladder to the fifth floor of a burning building and carried a 300 lb guy back down.'” Pattie describes her Grandfather, “He was intense, strong, and quiet.  When he said something he meant it.” That is the essence that Pattie and Mark try to capture in the Edward Barrel Select.

 

In a Partridge’s Eye

What do you do when your Pinot noir grapes are not completely ripe (18 brix) and all of the leaves have fallen from the vines?  If you are Mark Vlossak of St. Innocent Winery, you make Oeil de Perdix (Eye of the Partridge). Aptly named because of its slight blush color, this wine is slightly a rose, slightly sweet, and more than slightly delicious. With only 9.5% alcohol and refreshing acidity Mark suggests this as the perfect picnic wine to serve chilled with potato salad, etc. The aromas remind Mark of “Riesling and plums.”  Due to popular demand this is the third year he has repeated this happy “accident.”  Available May 2014.

 

Sibling Rivalry

Parents are not supposed to pick favorites among their kids.  Wine consumers can though.  Bryn Mawr Vineyard was sampling two Pinot noirs each named after their children – Jeffrey and Krista.  The vineyard is less than 20 acres and we were tasting two wines from the same varietal, winemaker, wine making process, and vintage.  Yet they were as different as – well as most siblings.  Jeffrey’s Block sits at 700′ elevation, faces south with a slight twinge east, is more protected from weather patterns, and grows in clay based Nekia soil.  It is smoother, lighter, and has more pronounced mineral flavors.  Krista’s Block sits at 820′ elevation and faces due south (about a 15 degree difference).  This means these grapes get sun until 10 p.m. in the summer.  The soil is a rockier type called Ritner.  Rachel Rose, Winemaker and Vineyard Manager, explains that the skins on Krista’s grapes get much thicker.  “I think it is the wind.  Even our veggies grown near Krista’s Block have thick skins.  You HAVE to peel the cucumbers.” The resulting wine has more prominent fruit flavors and thicker tannins. According to Rachel, a tally of which wine visitors prefer is kept in the tasting room.  People tend to like Jeffrey’s Block sooner after release, but Krista’s catches up as it develops and they end up about equal.  The most current available vintage is 2010.

Attack of the Clones

Calling all wine geeks… If tasting every varietal is already checked off your bucket list, maybe expand your horizons by tasting a different clone.  Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away (okay it was only 100 years ago and in France) a clone of Pinot blanc was created from a spontaneous mutation of Pinot noir.  Luckily this occurred in the vineyard of Henri Gouges who propagated it.  Today two vineyards in the world are producing wine from this Pinot blanc clone, Domain Gouges in Burgundy and Z’IVO Wines in Eola-Amity Hills.  Pinot noir, “Blanc, I am your father.” Joking aside, it is an exciting tasting opportunity.  Winemaker and Founder, John Zelko predicts it will last a decade – another reason to try this wine.

When we think of Pinot Blanc, we think first of Alsace.  In this dry, sunny climate the easy to grow Pinot Blanc gets fat and ripe with sugar.  We found the 2011 Domaine Weinbach from Alsace to be the most representative. Very fruit forward and fresh, it also had the most pleasant finish and more acidity for a better balance.

We found the one from  Marsannay to be least representative.  Made in Burgundy, the grapes were treated like Chardonnay.  There was wood influence so flavors of vanilla and oak masked the fruit.  In fact the attack (immediate impression on sipping) had the most oak flavors, the mid palate (time in mouth before swallowing) had a medicinal taste, and the finish (after swallowing) was unremarkable.  There had also been malolactic fermentation ( a process where “green apple-like” acids are converted to “dairy-like” acids).  This gave the wine a buttery taste.  We would have rather just had a Chardonnay

We also remembered why we don’t have Pinot Blanc in our cellar.   It is not our favorite wine.  While we are likely to find some we feel differently about, we have not found them yet.  We prefer wines with this much body, fruit, and sweetness to have more acidity.  Pinot Blanc could certainly be paired with spicy Asian dishes but we would pick a Riesling instead.  However, we think these wines would be great for those who enjoy sweeter wines.   It seems sweet wine drinkers want to branch out and try new things but are limited by their dislike for dry wines.  So for you sweet Riesling, Moscato, and White Zinfandel drinkers we would say add Pinot Blanc to your list.