Brickhouse and the Anniversary Dinner

It’s anniversary weekend here at the Morgan’s.  I’m very proud of the fact that my wife and I met in high school and have been together ever since.  As part of our Anniversary weekend, we had dinner at Zoe’s in Virginia Beach.

To pair with our meal (veal chops for me), we went with a bottle of Brickhouse 2007 Pinot Noir.  I’ve had a lot of Willamette Valley Pinot’s, and the more I drink, the more I appreciate the pure flavors in the Brickhouse wines.

Brickhouse was started by former CBS news guy Doug Tunnel, and is located in a sub-appellation of the Willamette Valley called Ribbon Ridge AVA.  Brickhouse has been ‘organic’ since the first vines were planted in 1990, and Biodynamic (Demeter Certified) since 2005.

Brickhouse ‘Cuvee du Tonnelier’ 2007 Pinot Noir – $39.95/bottle in a retail store, but we got to pay restaurant price of $85.  Cuvee du Tonnelier can be loosely translated in to ‘Barrelmaker’s Batch’ – is the ‘finest expression’ of Brickhouses estate vineyards.  The aromas are pure and clean flavors of raspberry, cherry, violets, light spice and mushroom throughout.  Excellent balance. Damn good – BurgHeads will really like this one.

As a sidenote, Brickhouse also produces a Gamay Noir, which would make a great participant in Wine Blogging Wednesday 68 – Got Gamay?

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Consistently Consistent

Aside from waking up and breathing, I seem to have just two consistent themes in my daily life – my family, and travel.   Living out of my suitcase, schlepping through airports, trying to keep up with work and my family responsibilities, I have come to appreciate simplicity and consistency.

In the spirit of consistency, while on the road, I try to get together with other wine bloggers at least once a week, and explore new wine bars or restaurants at least one other night a week.  For the remainder of the week, I tend to veg, order room service, put the TV on something mindless like Seinfeld reruns or South Park and just catch up on email backlog.  To pair with these stay-in-the-hotel-and-veg-nights, I crave/need/have to have a wine that is economical, reliable and consistently good.  Finding such a wine, one that is widely available throughout the US, is more difficult than it may sound.

One such wine – economical, reliable, consistent, and widely available – is the A to Z Pinot Noir.  A to Z Pinot seems to be available everywhere – Florida, California, Washington, DC, Virginia, St. Louis, NY – at a reasonable $17 – $21.

A to Z Pinot is produced by Dundee, OR based A to Z Wineworks.  A to Z was founded in 2002 by Bill Hatcher, formerly of Domaine Drouhin.  According to the A to Z website, they are the fastest growing Oregon winery, and has a current annual production of 120,000.

A to Z 2007 Oregon Pinot Noir – Made from at least 30 different vineyards spread across all of the Oregon AVAs that grow Pinot.  Garnet color in the glass, this Pinot has a nose of raspberry, fresh mulberries that you find here in the woods (the red ones), cherry, hints of root beer and mint on the nose.  Cherry and earthy flavors dominate the mouth.  Mild tannins and fruit work well together.  Shorter finish than I would have liked, but at this price point I’m not expecting nirvana.  64,000 cases of this wine produced.

Over the last few years, I’ve consumed a couple of cases of A to Z, one bottle at a time, on veg-out nights and this wine has always been consistently good.  Looking for a nice, reasonably price, consistent, Tuesday night wine?  Check out the A to Z Pinot.

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Bergstrom Pinot Noir

I concluded my two-week trip to Seattle last night with a visit to the Vino Volo wine bar in Sea-Tac airport.   I took advantage of the wide selection of Washington and Oregon offerings that are not available at other Vino Volo locations, and not widely distributed here in Virginia. 

One of my favorite Willamette Valley producers, Bergstrom Wines, was on the list so I went with a glass of their 2007 Cumberland Reserve Pinot Noir.   Since 2007 was a very difficult year for Pinot in the Willamette Valley, I was hesitant to pay $17/glass for this wine, but knew that if anyone in the Valley could produce an excellent wine in a difficult year, it would be Josh Bergstrom.

 

The Bergstrom tasting room was on my list of places to visit during my Willamette Valley trip last weekend, but my time in the Valley was shortened due to the insane amount of traffic on I-5 between Seattle and Portland, so I unfortunately did not make it to Bergstrom.

Bergstrom is a true family business, including winemaker Josh Bergstrom, his father and four siblings.  The winery has three Biodynamic certified estate vineyards covering 40 acres which stretch across two appellations in the Willamette Valley.  Bergstrom produces a total of 10,000 cases per year, which includes Pinot Noir, Riesling and Chardonnay (sadly, I’ve never had their Riesling and Chardonnay).

Bergstrom 2007 Cumberland Reserve Pinot Noir   –  Definitely an Oregon Pinot.  Nice ruby color in the glass, with aromas of espresso, damp earth, cherry and a little funk (which I dig).  In the mouth, a cherry cola flavor jumped out at me along with chocolate dust, ripe cherry and even some raspberry. Nice acids mingled well with the cherry finish.  A pleasure to drink once it opens up.  5,500 cases made 
The retail price is $45 per bottle.  A solid effort in a difficult year.

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Vino Volo SEA

My travels brought me to Seattle for a few days this week, which of course includes a stop at the Vino Volo at Sea-Tac airport.  For those who aren’t familiar with Vino Volo (you need to get out more), they are a chain of wine bars located in various airports throughout the US.  

While waiting for my red eye to IAD, I stopped in for dinner and a couple of glasses of wine. 

I started out with a glass of the Bunnell Family Cellars 2006 Vif – a blend of 49.5% Syrah, 27.1% Mourvedre, 15.4% Petit Sirah, 4.3% Cinsault and 3.8% Grenache.  Bunnell Family Cellars, located in the Columbia Valley, sources grapes from several growers throughout the area.  $15/glass, or $39/bottle.  Intense, bold fruit.  A full nose of blackberry jam, blueberry, prune and old spice (like the old cologne) with hints of earth that lead to flavors of cinnamon, blackberries and coffee.   This is an excellent wine.   Just 307 cases produced.

The Bunnell is definitely a crowd pleaser – a group of three Brits that who came in during my visit ordered the Washington Tasting Flight that included the Bunnell Vif.  Two of them ordered a glass of the Bunnell after they finished the flight.

Next, I moved on to the Beran Vineyards 2005 Pinot Noir (Pommard Clone) from the Willamette Valley.  Beran located in a converted dairy barn situated just 20 miles southwest from Portland, focuses exclusively on Pinot Noir.    $13/glass, $33 bottle.  Only 450 cases produced.  On the nose I found cherry, cinnamon and raspberry.  Light mouth feel with flavors of sour cherry.   This wine was ok, but didn’t throw my hair back.

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