Adelsheim Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

One of the benefits of the Joe Canal's experience is tasting so many interesting wines. This was an especially busy week, so between Wednesday and Sunday, I got to sample more than 30 different wines. Now that did include 20 in one evening for a special event, but that was still a lot of wine.

Thursday night was a Walk Around France, and that's where I got to sample 20 wines (and one champagne). Many were very full-bodied, and that continued into the weekend where I tasted, among other wines, a Catena Zapata Malbec. The white wines were mostly light in nature, but the reds generally were not.

All that was prelude to the wine that I bought for Sunday dinner, which was the 2007 Adelsheim Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. We didn't coordinate the menu, but Pinot Noir does pair well with a very broad range of food. As it turned out, the baked salmon and the Pinot paired superbly.

The wine was an almost-translucent garnet color, which made it look really alive. I caught bright cherries on the nose and palate, along with a little cracked pepper and allspice. Smooth, fine tannins led to a silky finish.

Since I hadn't had a Pinot at home for a while, it made me break out my copy of Sideways. I hadn't watched it for quite some time, and finishing the bottle of Adelsheim Pinot Noir while I watched the movie was a lot of fun. I did look for a film about the Oregon wine industry, but I couldn't find one.

Unfortunately, I poured my last glass of wine well before the movie ended. Stretching that last glass was a challenge, because the wine was exceptional. The Adelsheim WV Pinot Noir was one of those bottles that I hated to see emptied.

Oregon's Willamette Valley has earned its reputation for producing great Pinot Noir. I think Adelsheim's 2007 effort is a brilliant expression of that terroir.