A Night of Pinot

Last night was our last Wine Club outing of the year. December is just too packed for all of us, so we agreed to take the month off an start it back up in January.

I hosted ... and it was one of my favorite red wines: Pinot Noir.

Our spread

A French bleu cheese, Pecorino, Spanish Goat Cheese and a Cranberry Cheddar

Chips and Salsa Verde and Roasted Vegetable Salsa 

Nut Thins (We sort of joke, we always serve these :))

Cranberry Bruschetta (this is sooo good)

Mixed Nuts (roasted, with yummy Brazil nuts)

Smoked salmon - three ways (plain, peppered and Gravlax)

I forgot to take a picture of the dessert, but it was a yummy pumpkin parfait. The middle layer was sour cream, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice ... crazy how good it was.

For the wines ... we had six different wines that spanned the Old World, the New World, and the really New World of wine:

We started out with the old world and a French Burgundy. It was very mild, pleasant. For those who like bold wines, it was considered too week ... but I think it is a perfect wine when you have a lot of food and you aren't sure what to pair it with.

Our second wine, is what is considered a Bang for Your Buck. It's supposed to be reliable, cheap and drinkable. You've probably had it. 

Personally, I'd rather put my $10 toward a different bottle, but if you are in a pinch, it's a slightly bolder Pinot. 

The third wine was the second ringer. The Beaujolais Nouveau for the year. There's a lot of adieu about this wine. It is released the third Thursday of the year (so one week before Thanksgiving.) It's the fresh grapes of the year. It tends to be a bit sweet, and it's cheap. This year followed the same pattern. It's fun to have a wine tradition like this ... but definitely not one you'd bring as a hostess gift. 

The fourth one was my second favorite. And it was from the New New World of Wine. Frankly, I've just become a huge fan of South American wines (Malbec anyone?) so maybe I was partial since I knew it was from Chile. It had a slightly bolder finish, a nice aroma and was a good medium-bodied wine. Definitely one I would get again. 

The fifth wine was our other ringer. A good ol' Beaujolais that is not of the Nouveau variety. This was a pretty lively bottle. Went down smooth and represent the region well, while holding it's own against the Pinots. 

Our final wine is what I anticipated would be the favorite (and I was right) since it hailed from Oregon, and that region gets a lot of love for its Pinot. You can't go wrong when you go with a classic. 

Oh, Pinots, I still love you. But you are getting some tough company from some other reds.