CON’T/FOOD WINE SIPPER/FOOD
PINOT NOIR The surge in popularity that pinot noir enjoyed after the movie Sideways has calmed, but the sales of wine made from that grape are still strong. Supply and demand, along with the difficulty involved in growing good pinot, have kept prices high, but two wines in our tasting proved you don’t have to take out a bank loan to score a fine example of the variety. And despite entries from around the globe, pinot noir from Oregon scored a hat trick, taking all three of the top spots. Here are the panel’s favorites: 2010 GROUCHAU CELLAR GC COMMUTER CUVEE PINOT NOIR, $15.99 The wine opens with light but lovely dark berry and cherry aromas colored by nuances of earth and leather. This is a well-integrated, elegantly structured wine filled with ripe cherry and plum fruit flavors that are nicely balanced by bright, foodfriendly acidity. This is a charming bargain you can feel good about buying—part of the proceeds go to a charity promoting bicycle safety. 2006 J.K. CARRIERE PINOT NOIR, $42 Five years after the vintage, time in the bottle has resulted in a multi-faceted complexity. The aromas are a mix of spicy dark fruit layered with touches of herb (tarragon), fresh dill, earth, coffee, rose petal and smoke. Soft and smooth on the palate, mature tannins underscore the creamy cherry flavors, mingling with cigar box, leather, chalk and rose hip: classic Oregon pinot noir. 2009 WITNESS TREE CHAIN SAW PINOT NOIR, $16.99 A bit reserved at first, this wine opens up nicely with a little time in the glass. Patience reveals bright cherry fruit aromas backed by enticing hints of sage and soft oak. It’s an impeccably balanced wine with bold, ripe berry fruit playing against tart cherry. The finish turns creamy and is marked by smooth tannins. Another definite bargain.
for their commercial value, though. You only have to hang out with him under his trees for a few minutes to realize he just likes weird fruit. Along with his pawpaws, he proudly showed me two types of Asian jujube fruit, unusual pears, old-time apples and stuff that just popped out of the ground. He’s really an amateur botanist who likes to watch things grow. And as I was leaving, he just had to tell me one more tidbit about pawpaw botany. “The blossoms on it are kind of interesting,” Huskey said. “Before the leaves come out, the blossoms come out and they’re kind of an upside down tulip about the size of a marble and they’re green.” Before I could get a bead on where he was going with this story, he added, “they’re fertilized by flies and mosquitoes, not honey bees, which is interesting.” The pawpaw, it turns out, appreciates a little irony. It’s one of those plants that produces sweet fruit with the help of what some might consider unsavory pollinators— which also include blow flies and carrion beetles. To lure those bad boys in, the pawpaw wraps its flowers in the faint scent of rotting flesh—not uncommon in the natural world—and not particularly noticeable, according to Huskey. To ensure proper pawpaw pollination, some growers resort to hanging chicken parts or other overripe meat in their pawpaw trees. Huskey said his specimens mostly manage on their own, but when needed, he prefers hand pollination to rotting flesh. “I got a little artist’s brush,” he said, pantomiming a delicate task he clearly enjoys. “And I got some pollen off one and took it over to the other blossom and pollinated it and I had a little fun doing that.” “But no chicken wings in the trees?” I asked. “I think I hung a gopher one time,” he said. 28
—Dave Kirkpatrick WWW. B OISEWEEKLY.C O M
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