Pinot Noir

Wines to Go Buy This Week: A Carneros Pinot Noir by Truchard and a South African Bordeaux Style Red by the (barely pronounceable) MR Mvemve Raats.

As frequent IntoWine readers know, in November we are launching our own wine club, The IntoWineClub, in partnership with the California Wine Club (more info on the club here if you are interested). While there are a lot of moving parts, how it works is that the folks at California Wine Club ship me wine samples that are being considered for future club shipments and then I provide feedback and such about the wines that will be included in those shipments. Recently I received my first batch of samples and, let me tell you, I am thrilled about the quality of the wines. I simply can not wait for our club to launch in November. With this in mind, I give you this week's installment of "Wines to Go Buy This Week":

Truchard Pinot Noir 2006 - Was going to wait to recommend this until our IntoWineClub launch the first week of November but I'm gonna let the cat out of the bag early. This Truchard Pinot Noir is one of the wines being considered and I could not be more pleased to share the news that this wine is going to be in the inaugural IntoWineClub shipment. So what about the wine itself? For me a tell-tale sign of a good wine is that it is delicious and easy to drink from the first sip to the very last and always leaves you wanting more. The Truchard Pinot Noir passes that test with flying colors. From the Carneros region of Napa, Truchard Pinot Noir is an ideal wine for anyone curious about discovering Northern California Pinot Noir. It's also reasonably priced at approx $35 retail. "Reasonable" is relative of course as some might say $35 for a wine is outrageously expensive. For a quality Carneros Pinot though, this is priced more than fairly as you can certainly pay much more than this for a similar wine. As for the IntoWineClub, you can sign up here if you are interested.  

IntoWine asked our panel of experts to share their recommendations for the best wine to pair with baked chicken:

Baked chicken is a dish that can be both versatile and elusive. Honing in on just the right flavors, temperatures, glazes, marinades, and pairings can be a real task. To make things easy, I suggest any white wine that has a ‘New World’ style. Ripe melon, spices, and citrus fruit should be the hallmark flavors. A wine that has undergone malolactic fermentation (MLF) and was aged in new French oak would be ideal. Generally, Chardonnay would be my one go-to wine because ‘New World’ Chardonnay is typically fruity, buttery, and ‘toasty’. But more and more white wines are being made in a Chardonnay-like style. It is the flavor profile of well made Chardonnay that pairs so easily with chicken. If you are feeling adventurous, strike up a conversation with the wine buyer at your favorite local shop. Ask them which white wines that have that characteristic buttery style. If you have a specific recipe in mind, think of complementary flavors. Almost every wine label will have a description of the contents on back. You can get a pretty good wine (or two) within the $10 to $20 range.  – Ben Spencer is a diploma student with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and an IntoWine Featured Writer.