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Panther Creek in “Pinot Noir, An Ideal Red Wine for Thanksgiving” | Tri-City Herald
Northwest Wine: Pinot Noir an ideal red wine for Thanksgiving
BY ANDY PERDUE AND ERIC DEGERMAN
Great Northwest Wine
November 06, 2018 11:28 PM
Of the myriad red wines available to Pacific Northwest consumers, perhaps Pinot Noir is the best choice to pour with that Thanksgiving feast, as well as Christmas, if the holiday table features roasted turkey or other bird.
Why is this? The noble grape of France’s Burgundy region tends to provide fruit flavors that are more gentle and tannins that are more demure than varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Malbec, which carry attributes that tend to be more harmonious with roasted meats. Pinot Noir has a structure that is based more on food-friendly acidity than tannin, and its fruit flavors tend to be more delicate and elegant than many reds.
Fortunately for Northwest wine lovers, we have plenty of Pinot Noir choices, whether you choose wines from the Willamette Valley, Southern Oregon, the Columbia Gorge or Washington’s Lake Chelan. Here are several examples we’ve tasted recently. Ask for them at your favorite wine merchant or contact the wineries directly.
Le Cadeau Vineyard 2016 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $35: Winemakers Jim Sanders and Steve Ryan collaborate on this kaleidoscopic view of five blocks on the Mortimers’s Le Cadeau Vineyard estate in the southern Chehalem Mountains, blended into a youthful and cheerful expression of Pinot Noir that focuses on fruit. Its enjoyably complex structure moves from raspberry syrup and strawberry jam to cherry-skin tannins.