What Life is About

Finding a good Pinot noir.

Marinating a tri-tip steak just right for the grill.

Perfecting a key lime cheesecake.

Enjoying a great meal and wine with the parents :)

As the count down begins for my departure on July 8th, I am savoring my limited days of vacation at home with my parents. With a craving for a refreshing key lime cheesecake I decided this was just the dessert I should conquer this sunday afternoon. However, this luxurious dessert deserves a proper dinner to accompany it, and when you give a mouse a cookie... you know she's going to request a good wine too! ;)

No sooner than the meal ideas were formed I was off to the store and back again to begin the meal. As I started on the cheesecake, my father marinated the tri-tip in a red wine/red wine vinegar marinade that we discovered online (which I'd be more than happy to share as it was amazing!). To go along with the tri-tip on the grill, I threw in some red potatoes and seasonings in tin foil, along with another mixture of mushrooms, red onions and balsamic vinegar in its own tinfoil cooking-compartment.

As the meal was cooking, my parents and I opened up a bottle of the 2007 Archery Summit Pinot noir, Premier Cuvee, to commence the evening. Wow. Even better than I remembered from our visit there in March.... If you haven't had a Pinot noir from Willamette Valley, I highly recommend selecting one from Archery Summit. It's been awhile since I've had Beaux Freres or Domain Drouhin, which are both great Willamette Pinots, but Archery Summit winery stands out for me.

Like all good Pinots, the Archery Summit wine had an intense aroma of ripe red berries with earthy undertones (which complimented the steak and mushrooms beautifully); the palate is clean, complex, and delicious with even brighter blackberry flavors and a crisp, spicy finish. Wines like these are hard to describe for me; they are simple, but (dare I say it again) too complex on the palate to report about as they almost seem to dance on your taste buds as you swallow. As you focus on one attribute that stands out it begins to fade as another takes its place. (Maybe this is just me being a naive wine connoisseur, as I do have a lot more to learn :)

The wine was good to the last drop, the dinner was perfect, and the cheesecake was just the right refreshing citrus kick I needed.

Cheers!

Wine is a complex matrix.

Men and women, alike, will devote their lives entirely to wine and still be baffled by it in the end. I, for one, am proud to be one of these individuals (yet I do hope to resolve many of its mysteries along the way). I am drawn to the chemistry, romance, history, geography, art and communication that surround and encompass the basis of wine. I am constantly inspired by the many lovers of wine and the conversations that evolve over the sensory aspect of wine, the geographical location of the vines, and the typicality of a wine style which draws on both history and culture.

To further my studies of this marvelous drink, I will be embarking on a harvest internship in Burgundy, France this July. Set in the small town of Premeaux-Prisse, I will be working for Domaine de la Vougeraie, a Biodynamic winery that focuses primarily on Pinot noir. With a keen interest in Pinot noir, but little experience in it's production, I am excited to learn, first-hand, in the prized Pinot noir and Chardonnay region of the world. I hope you will enjoy my many accounts, both wine-related and personal, as I travel and taste my way through Burgundy, France.

Signing off in Nevada City, California.

Cheers!