Cooper Mountain Reserve Pinot Noir and truffled scallops with mashed potatoes

Cooper Mountain Vineyard. Gus Clements on Wine.


In the movie Sideways Miles talked about finding the Holy Grail of Pinot Noir in Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, if you ask any Oregonian, he was about 900 miles off the mark.

The fact that Oregon’s Willamette Valley shares the 45th Parallel with Burgundy in France – the Pinot Noir grape’s native habitat – is just one of the reasons why Pinot-philes flock eagerly to the Beaver State. The other is climatic (downright cold compared to most of the California coast, making for longer ripening towards more intense Pinot); and the other is the abundance of higher elevation, moderately fertile slopes allowing vines to “self-regulate” (that is, expend less energy on growing canes and leaves, and more on fruit flavor and extract).


Dr. Robert Gross in the early 1980s.


Let’s get to the wine: The 2006 Cooper Mountain, Reserve Pinot Noir (about $25) is a classic Oregonian. Very delicate, moderately extracted, and neither overripe in the nose nor heavy in the mouth like most Californians; its pretty, feminine nose of sweet raspberry leaf tea and pepperminty nuances coupled with soft, silky, refined textures, draped over the palate as comfortably as Samantha Jones on a bed.

Credit also goes to Cooper Mountain’s owner/grower Dr. Robert Gross for being one of Oregon’s leaders, since the early 1990s, in the organic and biodynamic movement (their Reserve Pinot Noir is certified biodynamic); practices he is convinced give him the highest percentage chance of expressing terroir. Whether or not you care about the viticulture, what you find in the bottle certainly exudes the lithe, wild berryish Willamette Valley style.

Although you wouldn’t think that scallops, in themselves, make an ideal match for a red wine like Pinot Noir, the Cooper Mountain is soft and silky enough for this type of shellfish, especially when served with pungent components like truffles. It works because Pinot Noir has a real affinity for earthy ingredients high in amino acid sensations (i.e. the so-called “fifth taste,” called umami), which truffles have in spades. 

Po’ boys like me, of course, don’t go marching down to the nearest gourmet store asking for a pound of truffles. Truffle oil does just fine, particularly in this New York Times recipe for scallops with white truffle oil and mashed potatoes. Feel free to dribble some of that truffle oil into the mash and you'll find a... Pinot heaven!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Green Wars (The Clashing of Sustainable, Organic and Biodynamic Proponents)

Image
Green wines have become more plentiful and better than ever, which is good news for all of us, and the environment. One of the unseemly aspects of this inexorable movement, on the other hand, is the public sniping between the various camps representing sustainable, certified organic, and Biodynamic® approaches. What’s even more disappointing are sides taken by individuals in the journalistic community (both print and online). You would think we could all be happy with the progress, no matter what paths growers and winemakers might take.  So let’s talk about this, and maybe by the end of the last paragraph we can give ourselves a group hug.  First, in regards to convention: One thing you notice, traveling up and down the West Coast at least, is that very few vineyards of significance are farmed with indiscriminate use of chemicals. As recent a progression as this may be, viticulture is rapidly reaching a point where so-called conventional farming is probably more accurately...
Read more

Frog’s Leap Zinfandel & whatever he’s having

Image
Frog's Leap founder/grower/winemaker John Williams “Times fun when you’re having flies,” was the motto at Frog’s Leap when they first burst upon the persnickety Napa Valley scene in 1981. They're going stronger than ever, even long after the departure (in 1992) of founding partner Larry Turley, who went on to further glory (only the most prestigious producer of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah in the country). Original winemaker/proprietor John Williams has remained. Mr. Williams has been growing his grapes organically long before it was hip to be green. You can say he was “green” before it was the new black. Yet even after all these years, the only hint of environmental consciousness on the label of any Frog's Leap bottle are the words, discreetly printed, “responsibly farmed.” The wines sell because of their quality; and, of course, sense of "fun." "Responsibly farmed" for Williams means it makes sense to provide organic matter to establish the healthiest po...
Read more

Maysara Jamsheed Pinot Noir and Szechuan baby back ribs

Image
  The biodynamically farmed Maysara estate in Willamette Valley's McMinnville AVA When Oregon’s “Papa Pinot,” the recently departed David Lett of Eyrie Vineyards, planted his first vineyard in 1965, he settled in the Dundee Hills just south, towards west, of Portland, where deep, red clay soils on bedrocks of basalt have yielded the type of gentle yet generous, red berryish, fruit driven red wines that have come epitomize Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.  During the past twenty-five years, a number of other little pockets of Willamette Valley have been successfully planted by winemakers, five of which have been identified as sufficiently unique to merit their own official AVA ( American Viticultural Regi on ) designation.  Among those “other” regions: the McMinnville AVA, located a good twenty miles southwest of the Dundee Hills AVA; closer to the Pacific’s maritime influence, and tucked into coastal mountain hillsides where slightly dryer weather and brighter days are off...
Read more