2001 Estancia Pinnacles PN

[hotwine]

A nice journeyman PN from the Monterey AVA. Good fruit, slight cranberry color and flavor, 13.5% alc/vol. Very nice with simple fare of toasted whole wheat bread smothered with sliced turkey breast and mushroom gravy, with steamed broccoli on the side. About $10.60 at Sam's.

[hotwine]

With grilled salmon, wild rice and asparagus spears. Still holding its own with good balance and structure. Would have preferred a Kenwood for its slight cranberry edginess but this worked just fine. Cellar is very light in PNs so choices are limited. Alternatives were Au Bon Climat and a nondescript burg, neither of which seemed appropriate. Need to focus purchases on both PNs and SBs for a while.... both inventories are pretty lean at present.

[winoweenie]

I half-agree Hotsie. WW

[newsguy]

hotwine: i had posted on this wine back in september. didn't like it as much as you did. maybe the bottle i had was slightly off...

"($9.99; 13.5%) bright red, going toward orange at the rim. nice full nose of sweet cherries, earthy spice and hints of leather and red licorice. silky mouthfeel and a good finish, but the flavors don't live up to the promise of the aromas. tastes of tart cherries and strawberries. might already be on the downslope. drink now. 82 points."

[hotwine]

Newsie, our food pairing probably had a lot to do with the wine's showing..... salmon fillet marinated briefly in milk, then grilled on a red cedar plank over a bed of oak coals for 10 minutes, then brushed with a glaze of SB, ginger, vegetable oil and brown sugar. The glaze might have helped compensate for any deficiency in the wine's cherry spiciness on the palate.

It's also possible your bottle was tired from recent travel; mine have been snoozing for about eight months. Will try another tonight with leftovers.

Soy sauce.... the glaze also contains that. I usually forget something.

[This message has been edited by hotwine (edited 03-21-2005).]

[hotwine]

Well, that's interesting. We decided to have a glass before supper and the wine had the nice PN nose that Newsie mentioned but failed to follow through on the palate, appearing tired and lacking structure. Served up the leftovers of salmon, wild rice and carrots (subbing for asparagus) and Bingo! It morphed into a very acceptable PN, nicely melding with the salmon glaze while allowing the veggies to show through. I'll try to keep a few on hand as a back-up to the Kenwood. Neither will break the bank.