Oh, those beautiful Burgundian varieties...

What I love about Pinot Noir is its food-pairing potential. Either light and earthy or rich and fruit-forward, the Pinot Noirs grown in California can pair with just about everything (roasted salmon, mushroom risotto, pizza, roasted duck, seared ahi tuna, lasagna or past, cheeses and charcuterie...the list goes on and on).

Last week, I went to Vin Antico in San Rafael and ordered the rabbit entrée. The meal was delicious, but the Cabernet Sauvignon that the server suggested was just too tannic for such a delicate white-meat dish. So I asked for a glass of White Burgundy, which paired perfectly with the rabbit as well as the sautéed corn on the plate.

The 2010 Louis Latour Chardonnay Montagny Premier Cru from the La Grande Roche Vineyard ($20/bottle; wine.com) is a pretty golden hue in the glass. It offers bright green apple and lively acidity on the palate. Medium-bodied, it has a creamy texture and a mineral-driven finish. It was also divine with the sheep’s milk cheese we enjoyed for dessert.

After dessert, we ended up at the restaurant's bar for a glass of Pinot Noir.

The 2010 LaRue Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir greets the nose with aromas of rose petal, violets, and sweet red fruit. On the palate, this elegant and flavorful wine delivers juicy red raspberry flavors, a silky-smooth texture, and nice complexity. Only 310 cases were produced ($68/bottle; laruewines.com).

P.S. This wine would have been an awesome match for the rabbit dish!!

That being said, this wine (like many Pinot Noirs) was delicious paired with nothing other than good company. For so many reasons, I am becoming quite a fan of Burgundy varieties...

Release Party Round Up

On October 5th, I threw myself a party in honor of the release of my new ebook, Where I Want to Be: A Wine Country Novel. This is the first of four novels in the Wine Country Series and it contains many real wine and winery references. If you have been reading Sip, Swirl, Savor for any length of time, you know I only promote wines that I am passionate about. The same goes for the wines I mention in the novel—they are my favorite wines and places to visit. Naturally, I sourced the same wines for the party!

You can’t call it a celebration without bubbles, so we popped the cork on a bottle of J Cuvée 20 Brut NV ($28/bottle) right off the bat.  As always, this J sparkler was a crowd pleaser. A blend of 50% Chardonnay, 49% Pinot Noir and 1% Pinot Meunier, this Russian River Valley bubbly is elegant and sumptuous. It offers zesty citrus notes and yeasty aromas with flavors of pear, toast, and almonds. It was spectacular to sip on it’s own but it was also quite lovely with a variety of cheeses, olives, and Marcona almonds.

The Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs NV ($22/bottle) is what we toasted the success of my ebook with. (It’s a delicious wine, let’s hope it’s a lucky one too!) This pale-pink bubbly is 82% Pinot Noir and 8% Chardonnay, all of which is hand-harvested from the 340-acre estate in Carneros (Sonoma). With lots of bright strawberry and bright acidity, this too is a wine that is great with ripe cheeses or duck liver mousse, ahi tuna, or smoked salmon.

The 2012 Stepping Stone Napa Valley Pinot Gris ($20/bottle) is a brand-new release from Cornerstone Cellars. This fresh and lively white wine with its colorful label was the perfect accompaniment to the joyous energy of the celebration. With crisp fruit flavors and great acidity, this is a terrific warm weather wine and great with appetizers of all kinds!

Side note: Interestingly enough, the three wineries above just recently debuted beautiful new websites! After launching my new Author Cortney website, I can appreciate how much effort goes into this process. I love the new look at Jwine.com, GloriaFerrer.com, and Cornerstonecellars.com!

Another white wine that attendees sipped while I read one of my favorite excerpts from the ebook was the 2012 Honig Sauvignon Blanc ($17/bottle). It’s a white-gold color in the glass with subtle aromas of mango, lime and lemongrass. On the palate, it has zippy acidity with bright tropical fruit flavors. This wine is very refreshing and such a great value. Ten percent is aged in neutral oak barrels and it is blended with 2% Semillon and 1% Muscat. Yum!

After the party, a small group of us went to the Tiburon Tavern for dinner where we enjoyed the 2011 Sojourn Cellars Wohler Vineyard Pinot Noir ($48/bottle). This is one of my favorite Sojourn wines. About 500 cases were produced from this small Russian River Valley vineyard. It has that classic cherry cola flavor along with a super-smooth mouthfeel and moderate weight. It paired perfectly with the lamb sliders!

If you like reading this wine blog, check out my new ebook, which is available exclusively on Amazon. Where I Want to Be started as a blog post, and then got longer and longer until I started referring to it (and self-published it) as a novel. Although it’s women’s fiction, quite a few men have already read it (and enjoyed it!). I hope you’ll enjoy it too. Cheers!