Jill of Tasting Pour is hosting this event. I belong to three different groups that contain wine lovers, many of us belong to all three and have grown accustomed to working with each other. For the past few month's all three groups, French Winophiles, Italian FWT, and this group have been exploring bio-dynamic wines.
I believe this is the first event though where we are limiting the bio dynamic wines to a specific area in the USA. It is no surprise that Jill chose Williamette Valley. You can learn more from her Invitation post.
I had the pleasure, many, many years ago to visit Oregon. My husband was attending a convention and I was lucky enough to accompany him on the trip. One of the activities provided was a gorgeous dinner cruise down the Williamette River. It was there that I learned the proper pronunciation of the river is Will-Yam-et. Now my title might make a little more sense to you.
King Estate is located at the tip of the Williamette Valley. They specialize in hand grown Pinot grapes from which they produce Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris that is always certified organic and much of which is certified bio-dynamic. You can read their website to learn why this is so very important.
I'm going to concentrate on telling you what I thought about the taste of the wines that I was lucky enough to sample.
I served both of these wines up with Easter Dinner. There were 15 of us enjoying dinner that day so there were other wines as well, but I made sure that these 2 wines accompanied my meal.
I poured the Pinot Gris to pair with my Caramelized Carrot Bisque that I served for the first course. The wine pours a creamy white. It has fruit on the nose and is acidic but well rounded with a medium fullness. It paired very well with the bisque as well as the Spinach/Strawberry Salad that was served after the soup course.
The Pinot Noir was served up with the Entree which included Baked Ham, Roasted Rack of Lamb and Roasted Kielbasa along with all the trimmings. The wine poured deeper in color than many Pinot Noir that I have tried. I am a big Pinot Noir fan because it is so extremely food friendly and this bottle was no exception.
Aged in French Oak barrels this wine is also a little heavier than others I have tried. That made me very happy. I could easily see this wine becoming my new go to bottle. I have yet to try to seek out this wine in Michigan but I do belong to wine.com and they are available through them at, I think, a reasonable price for the quality of this wine.
You can find out what Bio-dynamic wines the others tried from this region by following the links below and by joining us for Twitter chat today at 11 AM ET following #WinePW. See you there.
- David of Cooking Chat has prepared "Salmon, Farro and Mushrooms with Winderlea Pinot Noir"
- Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camila is celebrating with "Simple Pleasures, A Birthday Cheeseboard, & Keeler Estate Vineyards' 2017 Terracotta Amphorae Riesling"
- Jill of L’Occasion writes about "Peace, Bread, Land and Wine’: A Meal With Brooks Winery"
- Jennifer of Vino Travels will share "Biodynamic Wines of the Willamette Valley with King Estate"
- Lori of Dracaena Wines will present "Continuing the Biodynamic Legacy #WinePW"
- Jane from Always Ravenous pairs "Wild Alaskan Salmon with Herbed Ricotta and Oregon Pinot Noir"
- Pinny of Chinese Food and Wine Pairings combines "Biodynamic Grüner Veltliner and Pinot Noir from Johan Vineyards Plus Surf ‘n’ Turf Dinner"
- Linda of My Full Wine Glass shares "Ode to Oregon: Johan’s Biodynamic Expression of Place (#WinePW)"
- Gwendolyn Alley from Wine Predator will present "Our land is our life and our life is our wine” — Cooper Mountain Pinot Paired with Duck #WinePW
- Deana from Asian Test Kitchen has whipped up "Oregon Orange Wine Sparkles with Indian Curry"
- Wendy Klik A Day in the Life on the Farm discovers "Dammit!! These are some great wines from Willamette.
- Lauren Walsh of The Swirling Dervish will tempt us with "Pork Loin, Mushrooms, and Fiddlehead Ferns Meet Biodynamic Pinot Noir from Bergström Wines (#WinePW)"
- Martin of Enofylz Wine Blog brings us "A Taste of Cooper Mountain Vineyards at the Table #WinePW"
- Jeff of Food Wine Click is pairing "Biodynamic Willamette Valley with Brick House and Harissa Chicken"
- Payal of Keep the Peas is presenting "Living off the Land: King Estate Pinot Noir + Mushroom Pâté"
- Rupal of Syrah Queen is sharing "Maysara Winery - Iranian Immigrants Achieving The American Dream”
- Jade of Tasting Pour will share "Thai Green Curry Rockfish and Montinore Estate Gewurztraminer #WinePW"
- Nicole of Somm's Table shares "A Hunt for a Biodynamic Williamette Valley Wine: Johan Vineyards Farmland Pinot Noir and Salmon"
Great pairings of the Pinot Gris with Caramelized Carrot Bisque as well as the Pinot Noir with the rack of lamb. I think the roasted lamb is a fantastic choice for the Pinot as the lamb is not covered heavy sauce or is overly seasoned and overwhelms the Pinot. Two thumbs up!
ReplyDeleteThanks Pinny.
DeleteI have fallen in love with Pinot Gris!!! And the soup sounds phenomenal!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I was very pleased with the pairing.
DeleteBoth of these sound like delicious pairings. Looks like it was a beautiful Easter Feast.
ReplyDeleteIt was. I love family gatherings.
DeleteThat carrot bisque sounds out of this world! What an elegant course for a dinner party. All of the pairings you've described seem to have worked well, too. What's better than that?
ReplyDeleteSpending the day with family and dear friends. It was a perfect day.
DeleteReally love the idea of the caramelized carrot soup with the Pinot Gris!
ReplyDeleteThanks Payal.
DeleteLooks like you had a wonderful Easter feast. The caramelized carrot soup sounds delicious and the perfect seasonal pairing with Pinot Gris!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jane, it was very nice.
DeleteI didn't know about that subtle distinction in the pronunciation of the Willamette Valley Wendy! Fortunately, I think I talk so fast it sounds that way (lol). I've had these King Estate wines in the past and really enjoyed them. Nice pairings too!
ReplyDeleteThis meal and the pairings look amazing, Wendy! I, too, am grateful for the phonetic pronunciation of the valley. I can guarantee that I've been saying that wrong my entire life! LOL.
ReplyDeleteLOL, I didn't know before that wonderful river cruise.
Delete