Wine of the Week: 2009 La Follette Van Der Kamp Vineyard Sonoma Mountain Pinot Noir

Well sports fan here it's the day before Thanksgiving. I know many of you're busy preparing for the annual stuff-your-face to gills holiday we all look forward to every year [wink].

It's also a great day to get your "sports" fix in for the year, if you have not been paying attention to any football this year, tomorrow promises to be a fantastic showdown between some teams that are no doubt destined for the big dance.

I know this is normally a day to tune out the TV and commune with the family but you definitely don't want to miss the action year, to see which team will win the galloping gobbler award. Go Pack go!

But for those of you not into the whole "sports" thing on Thanksgiving [poor souls] you may then just be interested finding out about what the Pilgrims were really dining upon for the "first" Thanksgiving meal [supposedly not a pumpkin pie in sight]. It had much less to do with Turkey than most folks think, you can check out the more realistic and rustic menu here; Plimoth Plantation's recipes. By the way I didn’t misspell Plymouth, that's the old spelling you see above in the link.

For the history buffs in the reading audience, wanting to show-off some new Thanksgiving trivia acumen; may I suggest taking a quick trip over to Nat-Geo who has taken the time out-line some of the biggest myths about the holiday. They also lend some credence to the annoying facts that can't be debunked, then click on over to Thanksgiving Myths and Facts.

Now for every else still looking for the perfect wine to quaff with their family and friends tomorrow, I have a newly discovered favorite, a Pinot Noir from Sonoma Mountain. If you're thinking "umm, what the bleep is Sonoma Mountain" well stay tuned. We've all heard of Russian River Pinot and Sonoma Coast Pinot, as hot-spot areas for Pinot Noir. But when this sample arrived last week, I was a bit surprised to see a Pinot Noir from this AVA, simply because it has great reputation for producing stellar Cabernet Sauvignon. So if this review has you thirsting to know more about Sonoma Mountain, please click here, as there's a great article that breaks it down for you quite quickly.

Now about this wonderful expression of Pinot Noir that Mrs. Cuvee and I popped the cork on just last night. A wine that we dared to pair with apricot glazed pork chops, grilled to mouth-watering perfection. Also being grilled, right along side the bone-in pork chops, were some mighty tasty asparagus spears giving aid to the side of Parmesan, garlic potatoes I prepared in a skillet via the side-burner. 

Proving a man with a grill is a man with a mission to deliver fabulous flavor from the everyday mundane and humdrum choices that populate many dining tables. Did I deliver, umm well I think so, but Mrs. Cuvee has a different opinion, which only varies slightly from mine [wink]. That said the one thing that over delivered on taste, finesse and length was this Pinot Noir from Lafollette Wines, Mrs. Cuvee and I had a bit of a tussle over the last few drops.

Wow, this wine has some very alluring aromas and flavors. A nice pop of strawberries and blackberries, accented with sweet baking spices and earthy minerals, almost a meaty quality to it. A rich, ripe, silky wine, fully supported by well integrated tannins, structure and bright acidity, punctuated by a long silky finish. Even after the wine was gone from my glass, I still held onto because the aromas escaping from the glass was like the sweet perfume on the nape of the neck [don't shake your head, that's just how it went down] oh Mrs. Cuvee.

Honestly folks this is some fantastic juice and I would highly recommend it for Thanksgiving day or anytime you want a wine that comes dressed to impress. This wine sells for a SRP of 39.99 and I gave it a score of 92 points, a drink now and drink often wine. Until next time sip long and prosper, cheers!