Maybe The Most Refreshing Wine Ever
Last weekend, my wife and I stayed at Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate in Dry Creek Valley. But it wasn’t our first trip there together.
We’ve been to this beautiful jewel a few times. And the first time we came, we had the 2009 Pinot Blanc. And it was spectacular.
But I already wrote about that wine. Now I’m writing about the newest incarnation of this refreshing, delicious wine.
Pinot blanc is something I’ve liked for a long time. Most of the time, it’s light, and crisp, and refreshing. Sometimes it’s tropical. Usually, there’s a chalkiness, or a minerality that rocks.
The pinot blanc from Michel-Schlumberger is everything you could want in a pinot blanc. In the glass, it’s incredibly light, almost clear, but with a pretty lemongrass tint.
On the nose is the most incredible tropical bouquet, a mixture of floral aromas with grapefruit and light citrus oils. And on the palate, well, this is something you could drink almost anywhere, almost any time.
It’s bright, and crisp. It’s light, and clean. But it manages to pack a lot of flavor into what seems like a “small” package—this is no “big wine,” by any stretch. The finish lingers nicely, but not for too long. Grapefruit, the smallest hint of lime, perhaps even a touch of passionfruit, all with the clean chalky minerality that keeps everything in check and makes sure we don’t even tiptoe into the sweet zone.
This is even better than the 2009. There’s more complexity this year, and the aromas are a bit more varied. You cannot go wrong here.
Price point: $24
How Sonoma Does Pinot Blanc
On this past Saturday, my wife Heather and I drove from our sleepy little East Bay burg to sleepy little Dry Creek Valley for a day in the fun, sun, wind and vines. Our day included stops at three DCV wineries and lunch at the legendary Dry Creek General Store (best BLTA of my life), but everything came to a proper conclusion when we met up with Hardy Wallace of Dirty South Wine and The NPA at Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate.
What a gorgeous place.
The staff were incredibly friendly, and not just because we were there to meet Hardy and they were expecting us. We tasted up and down the M-S offerings, sipping on wines as old as their 1998 library cabernet sauvignon, to as new as this: a pinot blanc harvested just last year.
It’s been in the bottle a week or so. Talk about young!
It’s also fantastically delicious. Don’t get me wrong: this wine is neither epic, nor complex. It won’t make you see God or contemplate life’s true meaning. But it is delicious. It’s got “hanging with friends on my deck in the summer grilling up dogs and ribs” written all over it. Writ large, even.
So, what about the wine itself?
It’s almost clear, but with a nice lemongrass yellow-gold in the glass. The nose is clean and crisp, featuring most prominently a pear note, but with some good citrus rind as well. The palate is everything you expect from a deliciously drinkable, down-home white wine: clean, crisp, light bodied, with notes of apple, pear, lemon rind and even a hint of sour lime. Everything bright and inviting.
The 2009 Pinot Blanc is not listed for sale on the M-S website yet, but the 2008 retailed for $21, so I would expect the same price point for this newest vintage. And at that price, it’s well worth it.
Verdict: 91/100
2008 Pierre Sparr Pinot Blanc Reserve
Is “appley” a word? As it turns out, no. But were it, then it would be an appropriate term to use when describing this 2008 Pinot Blanc. Hell, it was appropriate enough that I still used it, official standing in the English language notwith–well–standing.
Ahem.
The Pierre Sparr is a relatively inexpensive Pinot Blanc, though not terribly easy to find. This is a shame, because for the price, the experience is well worth it. This Alsatian wine is one I think Chardonnay fans would prefer… though it’s likely that in recommending it that way, I’ll scare everyone else right off.
The color in the glass is a light yellow straw shade, very much like many Pinot Grigios or Sauvignon Blancs. The nose is full of butter and herbs, and a definite tart apple note (like Granny Smith, or Golden Delicious).
The wine is light bodied and clean feeling. Crisp and bright, with the same tart/sour apple notes coming through on the palate. A very pleasant wine, and easy to recommend for summer cookouts or perhaps when pairing with seafood… as long as it’s in a sauce or cooked with a preparation that can stand up to some tartness. The wine would probably go nicely with, say, steamed mussels in a pesto cream sauce.
In fact, I’m sure of it.
Verdict: B
2008 Pierre Sparr Pinot Blanc Reserve
