2005 Harris Bridge Pinot Noir Dessert Wine with Strawberry & Rhubarb Japonaise at GTF

Our last Gathering Together Farms dinner was over a month ago, but we still have one last food pairing to write about. Before I write about our dessert experience, let me preface something. I do not like dessert wine. I'm putting this out there to be completely honest. I typically don't enjoy wines with high residual sugar and will almost always pass up dessert wines at tasting events. Now that that's out of the way, let's get started.

Our dessert of the evening was a Strawberry & Rhubarb Japonaise. This was the absolute perfect way to top off our phenomenal meal. While sweet, it was also light enough to be somewhat refreshing. This lead me to believe our wine pairing was most likely going to dominate in the sweet department.

Paired with our dessert was a pouring of 2005 Harris Bridge Vineyard Sedouce; a pinot noir dessert wine out of Philomath. From the winery: Luscious, sweet and intense. Dark cherry, hints rose petal in the aroma. Raspberry coulis on the palate and a heady warmth carries the finish. As somewhat of a wine novice, I'll admit I was intrigued by a pinot noir dessert wine. I had never had one before, but I was scared at the fact this wine sits around 10% residual sugar.

I'm glad I kept an open mind because this wine was incredible. I didn't take tasting notes at the time and would otherwise apologize for not being able to be specific, but lucky for you we just so happened to buy a bottle at the end of the night! As a side note, what's somewhat unique about wines from Harris Bridge is that they wrap each bottle with short stories written by its owners.

This wine pours a translucent, dark rose color and gives off very strong hues of dark cherries, raspberries, and lots of sugar. Interestingly enough, it also gives off the impression that it has a higher alcohol content than it really does. Harris Bridge's description of Sedouce is dead on and I really don't have much to add other than I am incredibly impressed. This is the first dessert wine I've had that's not just delicious, but very memorable as well. Sedouce is available for $29.

As final pleasant surprise, we were offered a super secret pour of Chateau Bozo's pinot noir.

2006 Nuthatch Syrah with Short Ribs at GTF

Back on track with our series on the May wine dinner at Gathering Together Farm, the main course the evening was a dish featuring short ribs paired with a Nuthatch Cellars 2006 Seven Hills Vineyard Syrah. The beef short rib, served over bok choy and potato puree with dandelion gremolata, were good but could have used a little more spice. It was more of a traditional homestyle preparation as opposed to an asian or fusion style. While not disappointed with the ribs, I had hoped for a little more complex of a dish.

Nuthatch Cellars has a limited production of less than four hundred cases per year and in doing so are able to give meticulous attention to the entire process -- hand labeling and corking every bottle. Located in the foothills west of Corvallis, OR, they source fruit from some of the heavy hitting vineyards in the Walla Walla, Horse Heaven Hills, Umpqua Valley, and Columbia Valley appellations. They only make "big ass reds" and do a great job at it.

The 2006 Seven Hills Vineyard Syrah uses vineyard designate grapes from the Walla Walla Valley. This full bodied wine is described, "with luscious blackberry fruit and a backbone of refined tannis, it has a long, sustained finish. Aged 16 months is 70% French and 30% American oak, it is unfiltered and unfined." I found a nose of tobacco on the wine, and Chris noted a "puckery action" upon taste. All agreed this was a wonderful big red and we got the desired spiciness out of the wine versus the ribs.

Well folks, that's it for this course. Next up, finishing the series, Rick is going to chroicle our experience with dessert - a strawberry & rhubarb japonaise with Harris Bridge Winery Pinot Noir dessert wine.

Until then, make a comment and tell us what you like to pair a syrah with?

720 Cellars 2006 Pinot Noir with Roulade of Halibut

Next up on the docket at the Gathering Together Farm Wine Dinner was a Roulade of Halibut perfectly matched with the 2006 720 Cellars Pinot Noir. The halibut was wrapped in pork belly over israeli cous cous, with almonds and quince pasta. We all agreed that the almonds added a ton to the dish, and greatly enjoyed the pairing.

720 Cellars describes itself as a "gravity-flow winery to produce 1,000 cases of ultra-mega-double-secret-super-premium wine in 720 square feet of workspace." I suspect this is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek description, but what I do know is that 720 produces some quality wines in Philomath, OR. OK, so they're actually a small lot production winery that works out of a garage of sorts, but Nick does some equipment sharing with them and has been lucky enough to visit the facility and taste out of the barrel and has nothing but amazing things to say.

In describing the 2006 Pinot Noir, 720 says "The range and spectrum of this wine is a swirl of the bright raspberry and cherry end of the spectrum finishing with a foundation of darker elements of blackberries and cola." We found this to be a very traditional Oregon Pinot with a nice earthy nose and a bit sharp on the finish. It really worked with the halibut. Rick thought it was "really good", and this pairing reminded me how versatile Pinot Noir can be. With a production of only 400 cases, better pick some up while you can.

Next up on the journey of the wine dinner we'll look at short ribs with Seven Hills Vineyard Syrah and wrap up with Harris Bridge Winery Pinot Noir Dessert Wine and dessert. Beyond this series, we have a ton of exciting things in store for the blog. We have posts queued up for a delicous Col Solaire red wine, a review of a oregon wine book, and plans in the works for a Tour de Vino celebrating the Tour de France. It should be a great summer!

GTF Wine Dinner - Amuse Bouche with Emerson Pinot Gris

Continuing the series from the May 24, 2009 Gathering Together Farm wine dinner, following a rousing farm tour we quickly served the Amuse Bouche. While being served a mushroom soup with green garlic foam and brioche, a glass of 2007 Emerson Pinot Gris was poured for each diner. While some of my mushroom-averse compatriots less enjoyed this warm soup, I found it to be crisp and delicious.

Emerson Vineyards, a family-owned winery located in Monmouth, OR, produces Pinot Noir and Gris, Syrah, and Chardonnay while focusing on stewardship and sustainability as a core tenet. Elliot Johns, the winemaker, is a gradu

ate of Oregon State University's fermentation science program. Winery tasting notes on the 05 Gris note, "Emerson Vineyards Pinot Gris is silvery and brilliant. This vintage expresses gooseberry and honey aromas with flinty, minerally back notes."

We immediately detected the strong floral basket on the nose of this wine, with a crisp and tart lingering finish when consumed by itself. When paired with the soup, though, the finish was cut making a very refreshing and pleasant match. General consensus was very favorable for this wine, although Rick noted he would have enjoyed the riesling more with this course and Alyssa wasn't a fan of the whole course. Probably more of that is related to the aforementioned distaste for mushrooms.

The next course of the dinner didn't have a separate wine poured with it, and thankfully we made friends with the staff and ended up with an extra pour of the Gris to enjoy with the Salade Compose. The deconstructed salad of baby carrots, new potatoes, snap peas, Walla Walla onions, meyer lemon vinaigrette, and garden aiola also worked very well with the wine.

Keep your eyes on the blog for the next piece in the series, a look at the Roulade of Halibut matched with 720 Cellars Pinot Noir!

Gathering Together Farm Wine Dinner - Territorial Riesling

On May 24, 2009 I had the pleasure of once again participating in a wine dinner at Gathering Together Farm, an organic farm in Philomath, OR. During the on-season the farm hosts a wine dinner once per month, pairing a 5-course gourmet dinner cooked onsite with local wine. Joining me on this journey were Nick, Kristen, and Chris from Block 15 Restaurant and Brewery; Rick, a budding wine blogger; and friends Gordon, Megan, and Alyssa. I bring to you the collaborative review of this event in a multi-part series:

2005 Territorial Riesling

A typical wine dinner pairs all courses with offerings from a single winery. This particular evening, though, we were treated to the wine buyer's selection of Willamette Valley wines. Waiting as we walked in the door was a glass of Territorial Riesling. Founded by two Lane County wine growing families, Territorial produces a variety of whites and Pinot Noir out of their facility in Eugene, OR.

Matched with some crackers and meat, we found that this wine was the perfect start for the evening. With 2% residual sugar, the off-dry style gave a little sweetness that was just right -- it treated the palate without being overwhelming. Even Rick, an avowed fan of reds who typically avoids riesling, enjoyed this one. Another notch on the sugar would have definitely taken it out of his range. With an alcohol content of 11%, this vintage retails at $15 per bottle and is available throughout the valley.

Keep your eyes on the blog over the next two weeks as we work through the courses and wines of this dinner. Next up, the amuse bouche and Emerson Pinot Gris. In the meantime, if you can make it out to the farm for a dinner or weekend breakfast - do it. Unfortunately for you all, the wine dinners are all booked for the remainder of this year, but they have good food all the time.