Yummy Wine Alert! The Paring, 2008 Pinot Noir

Image from the Paring's website

I just had to take this wee aside from Wine Show Wind Up to tell you about last night's bottle.  I'd hate for you to miss it; it's a Vintages wine, and once they're gone, baby they're gone.  So go get a bottle before they all get scooped up and you're left without!

I had a totally wicked craving for Pinot Noir last night.  And as it happens, our Midland LCBO had only one for sale.  Out of all that wine, one Pinot Noir!  Tsk tsk tsk, Midland LCBO!  Lucky for me, their only one turned out to be a good 'un.  The Paring 2008 out of California is textbook Cali Pinot Noir.  I've said it once, I'll say it again: you can taste the sunshine in Californian wine.  It wasn't quite that light, perfumey Oregon pinot style I love, but not that over-oaked, heavy handed style I deplore.  It was just so well rounded; beautifully refined tannins, woodsy, earthy with raspberry at the start and a little pepper at the finish.  Definately worth the $32 I parted with.

One word of caution: Pinot Noir is an emotion-inducing wine.  Something about it just makes a person feel things deeply.  I've heard it called the world's sexiest wine, which I totally believe, because it just has a way of magnifying the intensity of one's feelings.  And it's not just a sexy thing; something about its earthy quality stirs up intense feelings of all kinds.  If this sounds hocus-pocusy to you, I agree, but it's true nonetheless.  Champagne is for drama, Pinot Noir is for passion.  Unfortunately it put me in a state of 'let's drunk text my sister, and slather on the hero worship whilst degrading myself to the status of lowly serf'.  So Lorri, if you're reading this, my apologies for the pity party.  If it helps any, you might wish to know that I spent a healthy portion of my day sitting with my face to the sun, picking away at my guitar, and contemplating how extremely lucky I am to have such a good life (and forgiving sister).  It's a good antidote for self-pity and wretched feelings of any kind, and I prescribe it to anyone who might be in need of such a tonic.

xoxo

Barb