2000 Merry Edwards Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, CA

[wondersofwine]

Had my first sample of this winemaker's pinots with the 1998 vintage at a wine event in Raleigh. This time I was dining at Bonterra Restaurant in Charlotte and ordered a glass of the 2000 vintage to accompany duck breast, duck confit gnocchi, carrots with oregano glaze. (At $14.00 for a 6-oz. pour it was the most expensive domestic pinot noir offered by the glass). The wine was a pretty red-purple color giving off a rich aroma (boysenberries, muted blueberries, maybe some forest floor but in a refined, not rustic mode). I don't like my pinots going too far towards the blueberry flavor, but this one didn't cross that line. It was medium to full-bodied with medium-length finish. It surpassed the "lowly" grape from whence it sprang and becomes another entity (Foodie, are you listening? This is what you say wines are supposed to do) which makes it hard to describe the flavor. Let's just say I savored every drop and didn't begrudge the $14.00. You can see through the wine when the glass is tilted but it still had a nice intensity of color. Merry Edwards pinot noirs are not a lot like other American pinots I've had; not really like a Burgundy either--sort of a class of its own. I finished dinner with fig sorbet with a thin chocolate triangle (bark or barque--shaped like a sail stuck in the sorbet). Actually, the dessert was a little disappointing--I think I would have enjoyed fresh figs more.