Thursday, April 28, 2011

J Vineyards & Winery 2006 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

Easter dinner, a rack of lamb, and an elegant Russian River Valley Pinot Noir from J Vineyards & Winery were ingredients for a tasty and tasteful occasion.

J Vineyards & Winery has 274 acres in the hillsides and floor of the Russian River Valley, located in Sonoma County, California.It is one of the largest estate wineries in the Russian River Valley. The winery was founded in 1986 by Judy Jordan and the focus initially was on critically-acclaimed sparkling wines. She later would move into cool-climate varietals, such as Pinot Noir, that are ideal for the terroir of the Russian River Valley.

Our meal included a roasted rack of lamb, zucchini cakes, sweet potatoes with pineapple and cauliflower. The Pinot was a perfect partner for the lamb. This has an initial large blast of red berries and the mid-palate has a taste of damp earth or mushrooms. The finish lingers and completes the impression of a very well balanced wine.

I enjoyed savoring the wine while Green Dragon wanted a more fruit-driven flavor. To me, the wine was just right. It was perfectly capable of standing up to a lamb entree, but delicate enough to allow you to appreciate nicely blended tannins and complex enough to offer multiple layers of tastes.

The grapes are picked at night to preserve freshness and hand-sorted before de-stemming. The wine is aged for 12 months in small French oak barrels. The alcohol content is 14.3%.
A beauteous bottle of Pinot for about $45.
Technorati Tags: ,
Enhanced by Zemanta

No comments: