Pinot Gris

I had this idea for a blog, about drinking wine.  That's it -- that was the extent of my idea.  Not much to work with.  My husband, always looking for an angle, suggested that we drink a different bottle of wine every night for a year and blog about it.  (His theory is that every blog needs an angle -- a la Julie and Julia.)  Good enough, I thought, why not?

Cue Lifestyle Change.  I happened to mention this to a girlfriend at a dinner party, and she was visibly shocked when I told her that we routinely drank a bottle of wine every night -- not for a blog, just because. The next thing I knew, I was undertaking a 6-week program to detox my liver (girlfriend is strangely persuasive -- I think she may have performed some kind of Jedi mind-trick).  To be candid, my liver may or may not be detoxed, but at any rate the bottle-a-night program was effectively out the door.

Meanwhile, back in the Willows, we ran into Nick, the proprietor of our neighborhood Willows Market, at the Sunset festival, where he was having a glass of red and chatting up some California winemakers.   We blabbed about "our blog" (still no more than a gleam in the eye), and he was fired up!

Nick knows I like pinot gris because a year or so ago,  I mentioned that I had tasted the Elk Cove at a blind tasting and LOVED it.  Eventually he started stocking it.  How great is it to have a neighborhood market that listens and stocks your favorites?  (Answer: really great.)  So last weekend, he gave us a bottle of J Pinot Gris (among others -- stay tuned!) to try for the blog.  Woohoo!

We decided to try the Elk Cove and the J side-by-side: Oregon and California (a real Pac 10 match-up!). I cheated and looked at the J website, which suggested the pinot gris would be good with Mexican food, among other things -- which was perfect, because I was craving fish tacos.  So I was off to Sanchos while my husband put The Kid to bed, and then we got down to business.

We started with the J Vineyards 2009 California Pinot Gris, and I'm so glad we did.  My first thought was honeysuckle (which is kind of dumb because of course I have never actually tasted honeysuckle!).  My husband described it as "dry enough" but with a definite hint of sweet tropical fruit.  (This is a good time to restate that we are by no means wine critics -- we just call 'em as we taste 'em.)  Light, fruity, girly (sorry, Husband), and nice on a summer evening.

With our second tacos, we moved on to the Elk Cove 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris.  The difference was immediately apparent: we both thought it was more subtle and less sweet than the J.  My husband suggested that "it would be easier to drink a whole bottle of Elk Cove by myself" (not that I would let him - I want some!) -- pretty high praise.

Both wines are lovely, pretty, and easy on the senses.  To me, the J is a Laura Ashley dress -- pretty, but no backbone -- whereas the Elk Cove is a Liberty print, perhaps more tasteful and sophisticated.  Just my  opinion -- what do I know?

For the record, The Willows Market supplied us with the J Vineyards 2009 California Pinot Gris, which I believe retails for $13.99.  I bought the Elk Cove 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris at the Willows Market for about $16.99.  I have not received any other compensation for this posting.  I have linked to other websites for convenience; however, I take no responsibility for the content of any websites.