Saucy Dinner Monday

Start

plate of French cheese and olives.

Main

warm port reduction Brussels sprouts sprinkled with fresh Parmesan Reggiano.

chicken and caramelized onion, wild mushroom & white wine sauce.

Vin sur la table

We enjoyed a favored aperitif of De Ponte Cellars tangy rosé, and munched on our starter while whipping up the main plate.

Concho y Toro Amelia 2006 Chardonnay paired fabulously with the white sauce and earthiness of the wild mushrooms. The gorgeous gold wine held marvelous candied pear flavors without being over oaked or flabby. I regard this Chardonnay as if he were an English Lord, come to high tea for a pleasurable afternoon of tea and scones. Top-notch, I'd say.

The Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Villages 2008 (chilled, of course!) added an airy mouthfeel and tingly dry fruitiness to the meal. Beaujolais is extremely light bodied, as it is made from the Gamay Noir grape, whose lineage is intertwined with Pinot Noir. Everyone knows Pinot pairs marvelously with chicken and mushrooms, so why not a Beaujolias, c'est magnifique!

One word encompasses our wine pairings to the light, saucy dinner: sprightly. With refreshing libations, the meal was ideal for a hot summer evening under dim lighting and a ceiling fan.

Gracious Wines at Four Graces

Following the nightmarish experience of Duck Pond Cellars, a white picket fence lined driveway can instill immediate panic. At first sight, Four Graces, with its well groomed mini garden, adorable cottage-like tasting room, and close proximity to Duck Pond, was frightening. "Should we turn back?" we questioned, but the fear was instantly dismissed upon entry. The spanning vineyard and tiny 1930s farmhouse ooze charm. The tasting room, adorned with grainy family photos of elegant daughters (the four graces), inspires comfort and nostalgia. We met with vineyard manager, the amiable Anthony Van Nice, to taste wines from the concise production list. To start, an 09 Pinot Gris-- though slightly too syrupy and not terribly crisp, the bright and juicy white delighted in its light caramelized flavors of toasted white nuts. The wines that followed were astounding. An 09 Pinot Blanc tickled my senses all the way down, leaving me giddy and craving more of the light, citrusy-smooth, baked cinnamon pear that had just been sampled. The sultry, impressively structured Willamette Valley 2008 Pinot Noir displayed velvety, lush fruits and splendid acidity. Its creamy finale lingered until our final pour-- the 07 Dundee Hills Pinot-- which powerfully marched its earthy vim around my tongue. We left with a serene mind, having embraced the welcome of Four Graces' genial and unpretentious spirit. Fear not the picket fence, but enjoy Four Graces enchanting selections!

Evening Pairing

We chose three wines to compliment our

steak entrée, and three cheeses to enjoy while preparing the meal.

Sur la Table:

My current favorite ros

é, 2008

Akakies by Kir Yianni, is unique in its sprightly, dry palate and neon color. The wine is made from the most distinguished varietal of Northern Greece, Xinomavro. Attributes of Xinomavro are quite dissimilar from that of most red wine grapes, and feature captivating vegital notes on a nose nearly devoid of fruit. The grapes earned the name Xinomavro, or "black acid" due to their massive tannic structure and difficulty to tend or master. Contrary to the norm for a ros

é, the

Akakies retains the nose of a red Xinomavro, and we found it paired expertly with steak!

2005 Greenpoint Australian Shiraz' saucy attitude and powerful expressiveness made for an unmitigated steak companion.

The 2001 Chateau ste Michelle Meritage displayed surprising strength for its age. With delectable chocolate and dark fruitiness, the supple tannins ensured the wine would drink fabulously with or without food.

Old Ladies Bite at Duck Pond Cellars

Ancient wrinkled hands struggle to uncork a bottle of merlot as we enter a kitschy boutique style room with nick-knack cluttered shelves. Wine bottles are tastelessly adorned with awarded medals. The bar is bustling with seniors while terrible 90's soft rock saturates the air. "How you kiddies doin'?" greets the elderly tasting room associate. "Welcome to Duck Pond Cellars."

"[The pinot gris] is so minerally,

it tastes like manchego." --Brent

First taste in the glass is an 08 pinot gris. The wine is gorgeously clear by sight. My cohort-- aspiring sommelier, Brent --describes the funky crisp apple and light mandarin finish as "so minerally it tastes like manchego;" he gives an approving thumbs up, while I am less appreciative. We concur, the oaked butter flavor of the 07 Chardonnay has quite a rocky and biting relationship with its acidity. An 08 pinot noir is poured next. Though the palate features pleasant acidity, the minimal earth and awkward toastiness earns further negative reaction. The gewürztraminer finishes with a bite. I find the flabby merlot synonymous to nestle coco powder mixed with hot water, while Brent equates it to poor drip filter coffee.

Slightly perturbed and grasping for a redeeming wine, we cracker our palates and go for Duck Pond's Washington label, Desert Wind. The 08 Ruah meritage is poured, looking stately in the glass. Some cedar spice, a little rubarb... dusty tannins, dark fruits... this is a good wine! Relieved, though not convinced, we attempt a viognier, whose lite minerals and nuttiness leave little room for dissatisfaction. A clean sangiovese shows promise as a food wine. The last, an 06 syrah, proves nothing short of oddly delicious with a concentrated, rubbery body, and cedary lavender reminiscent of... wait... is that fresh raspberry creme filled doughnut? Couldn't be.

On the chance you enjoy quilting, tacky cottage motifs, and are an Alabaman tourist, your tastes may better align with Duck Pond Cellars than did mine. The Duck Pond experience was frustrating, with its off biting finishes and strangely unstructured tasting sequence (viognier after meritage!?), yet it was ultimately rescued from an inadequate evaluation. Though I cannot give the Oregon label approval, I do recommend Desert Wind as a tasty and affordable alternative.

Bio-Dynamic Triumph at Rex Hill

Happy vines beget unique wines-- and Newberg's Rex Hill Winery has very happy vines. From their 17 vineyard acres, Rex Hill creates fabulously energetic wines. Rex Hill's animated Mike Willison recently took us on a facility tour. The atmosphere at the estate was friendly and real. We learned that while too many wineries capitalize on tourism, focusing on vineyard aesthetics, Rex Hill emphasizes bio-dynamic growth in order to retain the true flavor of each varietal. Willison enlightened us on how, through the cultivation of natural pest defense, chemical sprays are unnecessary-- employee gardens blockade against hungry slugs, voles are kept at bay by attracting hawks, and wild flowers and buckwheat crops invite bees to pollinate. No shiny pesticides to suffocate the hillside leaves grapes free to develop a true personality and to produce wines of expert quality.

With the general American palate craving bigger, fatter, slap-you-across-the-face flavor, finding a Chardonnay that isn't essentially extract of buttered popcorn can prove daunting.

Willison jovially walked us through numerous wines. What instantly excited my palate were the beautifully complex and airy Chardonnays. With the general American palate craving bigger, fatter, slap-you-across-the-face flavor, finding a Chardonnay that isn't essentially extract of buttered popcorn can prove daunting (how my boyfriends sister can enjoy Kendall Jackson on the rocks defies all reason). Fortunately for oak skeptics, Rex Hill exists. The 08 A-Z Chardonnay delighted with fresh, un-oaked fruits, honey, and acidic minerality. The 07 Rex Hill Reserve Chardonnay, which spent merely 15% of its life in new French oak, and whose earthiness and mouthfeel mimicked that of a lite pinot noir, dazzled me to speechlessness.

In northern Oregon thrives Pinot Noir. The 06 vintage was criticized for producing flamboyant pinot bombs, yet Rex Hill managed to shirk the showy attitude, keeping it simple, and ultimately superior. Their Sims Vineyard 06 pinot noir, showcases excellent balance and revitalizing acidity despite dangerously approaching 16%abv. Willison described the 07 Dundee Hills pinot as bearing "brambly giddy-up terrior," and joked he couldn't sell us a bottle, "this is the special line I keep for myself."

Also recommended from Rex Hill/A-Z:

• Rex Hill 2007 Chardonnay, un-oaked, Willamette Valley.
• Newly released 2008 A-Z pinot noir, Willamette Valley.
• Southern Oregon's dusty 2006 Chemin de Terre, which aptly translates to "dirt road."