The Melting Teapot

Last weekend I was happy to spend time driving around to various wineries and tasting rooms in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.  This region is acclaimed for its pinot noir, and much of my attention was focused on comparing pinots from different vineyards and thinking about how the poor weather of 2007 impacted that vintage.

One tasting room experience stood out for me, not just because of the quality of  their wine, but because of a different approach they took.  Boedecker Cellars had us taste their wine on its own and with various small bites of food.

Upon arriving at Boedecker Cellars' tasting room, we were given some chardonnay to sip while the woman pouring took a few moments to prepare a small plate for each of us: slices of toasted baguette with a smear of  salmon spread, some crackers, a few nibbles of cheese, and a small slice of lemon-yogurt cake.

As she poured each of the pinots, she asked us to sniff and sip and then try different items on the plate.  When we’d finished tasting the pinots with salmon toasts and cheese, she poured us some more of the chard and asked us to try it with the lemon-yogurt cake.  Amazing!  I didn’t expect those to go together at all, but they paired up perfectly.

Of course, this type of tasting isn’t possible in every situation, in every tasting room.  It takes time, personalized attention, and a bit of planning.  However, there are several benefits:

• It was a great way to examine the impact of wine on food (and food on wine).  Pinot Noir is one of the most food-friendly wines out there, so having it with a few small nibbles makes sense.

• I was forced to slow my tasting down and really think about the wine, about how it would match with various types of food, and about what was making each bottle distinct.

• It actually made me buy a wine I probably wouldn’t have otherwise (the chardonnay).

• I felt I was getting my money’s worth for the tasting fee (of course, that ended up being waived with the purchase of a couple of bottles).

I’m not sure if Boedecker Cellars always does this, or if it was just for their release of two 2007 pinots.  It stood out as a unique experience, and I appreciated the effort they put into the tasting.