Weekly Wine Notes From Our Wine Steward, Brian Kemmerle
Bentley’s Wine Steward, Brian Kemmerle regularly offers his insight and experience to help select the perfect wine to accompany Chef Derek Ridgway’s dishes. Visit our site to see the most current Food and Wine Menus….
The most exciting pairing on the menu this week is for the Pizzetta. Our pizza dough, made fresh daily, is topped with our house made marinara sauce, ricotta salata, country olive mix and fresh spinach. I wanted a wine to mesh nicely with the acidity of the tomatoes, refresh your palate from the saltiness of the olives and the ricotta salata and not get overtly astringent with the green flavors of the spinach. The result … the 2008 Firesteed Dry Rose. Cheers!
This week’s “Featured Pinot Noir” is the Westrey 2008 Dundee Hills Oracle Vineyard. An estate vineyard planted with a combinations of 31 year old Pommard clone and some newer 9 year old plantings of Pinot Noir on predominantly Jory soil with a streak of Nekia. This week, some most agreeable tasting notes from the winery:
“The nose invites one to taste through aromas of raspberry fruit, red currents, violets and mineral-earth notes. The entry shows bursting berry fruit, with good weight and a balanced acid structure.”
The earth notes come across as pine needles and the fruit description is spot on. Cheers!
Brian
Tags: Brian Kemmerle, Food, oregon, Pairing, Pizzetta, Salem, Wine
