I planted a garden this year. From seeds. And nearly every single seed I planted grew. I have 20 green bean plants, 18 tomato plants, 7 pots of basil, 2 pots of mint, and a pot of rosemary. The rosemary actually did the worst, I planted 3 pots and only got one to come up, and even then, only with a few sprigs. I do not have a green thumb, so this delights me. Plus, the squirrels and I are locked in an epic battle for my garden. First, they dug up the seeds I planted, and now that I managed to grow things, they are eating my green tomatoes. Behold, the first harvest from my garden:
To go along with my first harvest and the beautiful Alaskan sockeye salmon I picked up at the store that morning, I served a 2006 Erath Pinot Noir. My dad picked this up at Branford Wine and Spirits, it had a screw cap closure, and I see you can find it online for about $15. Sorry, didn’t note the alcohol content before I left for St. Louis.
The first thing I noted about the wine was the color. We sat outside to eat dinner and in the light the color of the wine seemed more like a very dark rose than a Pinot Noir. Though, it could just be that I’m used to a California style Pinot Noir. On the nose I found cherry, smoke, oak, spice, Coke, and raspberry. The nose was quite pleasant and promised good things from the glass. In the mouth I got sweet fruit, raspberry, cherry, strawberry, some spice, and a touch of a tannic feeling on the finish. On its own, the wine was a bit thin/watery, but as we sat outside and it warmed up a touch, it developed a nice body and went quite well with food. As it developed, I found coffee grounds, mocha, and tart cherry flavors in my glass.
Overall, this wine is best with food, and best as it warms up just a touch. For $15 a bottle, it certainly displays the varietal characteristics you would expect from a Pinot Noir, and for that price point, that’s not something you can say about many Pinot Noirs. I think you can see my garden in the background! Yes, it’s all growing in pots, we haven’t had time to build beds in our yard yet, but we will get there….our ground is solid clay and poor little plants do not even have a chance to grow in it, so pots had to suffice for this year. I will soon be rolling in more tomatoes than I know what to do with…each plant has at least 20 tomatoes on it!
PS-These pictures were all taken with my new camera, whadda ya think?
Filed under: Branford Wine and Spirits, Pinot Noir, Red | 8 Comments »
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