pinot noir

Not hosting Thanksgiving, but in charge of bringing wine to a family member or friend's dinner? I highly recommend seeking out a bottle of Mark West's 2007 Pinot Noir. It's not only affordable ($11.99), but its also delightfully drinkable and silky smooth.

Described as Pinot For the People, Mark West's manifesto is to "demand rich, fruit-inspired, easy-drinking wine." With its jammy black fruits, full perfume, vanilla undertones, and light acidity, this Pinot delivers. I enjoyed it with cheese fondue, roast chicken, and mushroom pasta making it extremely versatile — a necessary characteristic for a Thanksgiving wine.

Last night I attended Jack Falstaff's first Farm to Table Grower's Dinner. The special menu features seasonal ingredients from local producers. The most exciting part of the meal (besides the delicious food) is that the farmers and wine makers dine with you.

I was lucky enough to speak with Audrey Sterling, the grande dame of Iron Horse vineyards. After fabulously describing the wines, she told me about how Iron Horse is served at the White House! Their varietals have been selected by the past five presidencies, dating back to Ronald Regan. It's a fun fact to tell guests when serving Iron Horse.

While I enjoyed all the wines they poured, my favorite was the 2006 Estate Pinot Noir ($40). It was subtly complex and incredibly smooth. Like the perfect little black dress, it's elegant, but stylish. It rolls through the mouth with fruity, earthy flavors and a rich aroma. The wine's made with a special precision-harvesting technique that closely examines each vines needs, resulting in a silky, wonderful wine. The wine was served with an intensely crispy, suckling pig porchetta, but I think it would be lovely with everything from comforting macaroni and cheese to braised beef.

If you are looking for an interesting new wine to try, I highly recommend this sparkling Austrian Pinot Noir. I tasted it at a recent party for CandyBar — San Francisco's new dessert-only restaurant — and instantly fell in love with the pink champagne. Fizzy, light, and refreshing, this wine paired perfectly with savory appetizers and small sweets. Flavors of citrus mingle with a mineral undertone making it a complex, yet easily drinkable bubbly.

Michlits Frizzante 2006 Rose Burgenland is a popular wine-list wine, so look for it at your favorite wine bar. An exotic import that retails for only $19 — reasonable for the taste and quality —it's also a great wine to seek out for a celebration.

Last weekend, I headed over to 'wichcraft (Tom Colicchio's casual sandwich spot) for a tasty fried egg sandwich (which was yummy, if not a bit too heavy on the frisée). I was originally going to grab a nice refreshing bottle of water to accompany my meal when out of the corner of my eye I spotted this lovely little soda bottle. Upon inspection I saw that it was called Vignette Wine Country Soda, and well, I can't explain it, but just looking at it made my mouth start drooling like one of Pavlov's dogs.

So naturally, I put down the bottle of water and grabbed a bottle of the Chardonnay flavored soda instead. Now I assumed it would be a refreshing addition to my lunch, but I was not expecting it to be as delicious as it was. It was a crisp, bubbly kick in the tastebuds - not too sweet and with a subtle fruit flavor. I only wish all Chardonnay could taste this nice.

Also, while I was at the Fancy Food Show I had the opportunity to talk to founder Patrick Galvin. He let me know that Vignette is the first carbonated soft drink completely sweetened with the juice from Californian varietal wine grapes and is completely natural. While there, I took a taste test of the Pinot Noir flavor. Although it was also tasty, it just didn't seem to have the crisp, freshness that the Chardonnay had. But then again, regular Pinot doesn't really have the same crispness as real Chardonnay either.

Order yourself a bottle at Hello Delicious, but be warned, it's $4 a bottle. I'd like to say it's worth the price (it is delicious), but I'm pretty cheap and know that I purchased it for much less than that. Unfortunately it's slowly rolling out into stores, so unless you live near a store that carries Vignette, you'll have to pony up and pay the price.

January 26 UPDATE: Patrick Galvin just informed me that the price is now back to $2.50 a bottle at Hello Delicious. Now that's a price I can handle.

He also wanted to let me know that at the show, the "preference for the Chardonnay or Pinot Noir has consistently been split 50/50."