Critics

IntoWine recently asked its panel of wine experts to recommend one wine to pair with breast of duck: Duck breast is juicy , gamey and flavorful, and needs a wine companion that is lighter bodied, lightly fruity, with good acidity and some earthiness to it. A Pinot Noir is the natural pairing, but one with a little mushroomy flavor, which Pinot Noir can get with maturity, or earthy “sous bois” characteristics, can echo the gamey, earthy flavors of the meat. An older red Burgundy or California Pinot would do the trick beautifully, but that might not be very practical if you don’t happen to have any sitting in your cellar. Fortunately, a lot of new release domestic Pinot Noirs can fill the bill as well. One gets a lot of earthiness from Pinots grown in cool climate regions like the Santa Rita Hills and Santa Cruz Mountains in California, and the Amity Hills in Oregon. Particular recommendations with the requisite earthiness would be: (1) from Sta. Rita Hills, Rusack’s Reserve Pinot or the Clos Pepe Estate; (2) from Santa Cruz Mountains, Mount Eden’s or Thomas Fogarty’s Estate Pinots, and (3) from Oregon’s Amity Hills, Evening Land’s La Source Seven Springs Vineyard or St. Innocent’s Zenith. Another fun and delicious direction to go with duck is a Pinot Noir-based sparkling wine. I’ve had memorable results matching duck with both Ferrari’s vintage Rosé Perlé and their less pricey Ferrari Rosé Brut . Ferrari is probably the top Italian sparkling wine producer making wines in a champenoise style, and the NV Brut is widely available for only about $30. Other sparkling rosés should go well too, but Ferrari, for my money, has the requisite balance of fruitiness, minerality and acidity that really sparks with a dish like duck. - Richard Jennings, IntoWine.com Featured Contributor and the Founder RJonWine.com

IntoWine recently asked its panel of wine experts to recommend one Oregon pinot noir worth seeking out: Oregon’s Willamette Valley sits at roughly the same latitude as Pinot Noir’s ancestral home—France’s Burgundy region. While there are significant differences between the two regions in terms of soils and topography, the fact is that both are essentially cool climate, slow ripening regions that are ideal for producing flavorful and balanced Pinot Noir. Pinots from Oregon tend to have some of the delicacy and minerality that red Burgundy is known for as well as some of the ripe red fruit most typically found in California Pinot. Their alcohol levels are generally much closer to those of France (13% or so) rather than California (typically 14-15%). Many of them also exhibit a savory aroma reminiscent of forest floor or underbrush, what the French call “sous bois.” For me the most impressive Oregon Pinot Noirs in recent tastings, with wines I rated 92 points or higher, have come from Archery Summit, Belle Pente, Domaine Drouhin, Evening Land, Rex Hill, Roco, Scott Paul and Shea Wine Cellars. The best values among these wonderful examples are the 2009 Belle Pente ($35), the 2010 Evening Land Seven Springs Vineyard ($40), Scott Paul’s delicious 2010 La Paulée ($32) and Shea Wine Cellars’ 2010 Estate ($40). At an even more affordable price level, look for Coeur de Terre’s $20 2010 Pinot (89 points) and Patton Valley’s $20 2009 “Declassified” (89 points). Richard Jennings, IntoWine.com Featured Contributor and the Founder RJonWine.com.