What I Drank With Dinner (WIDWD)

In this economy, there's nothing better than finding a good, inexpensive bottle of Oregon pinot noir, a wine you can enjoy on a regular basis without having to worry about breaking the budget. Such is the case with the Firesteed 2006 Pinot Noir Oregon, which I picked up at Metropolitan Market recently for an affordable $15.

We paired the Firesteed with a meal of roast chicken breasts with garbanzo beans, tomatoes, and paprika served with a Greek yogurt sauce. It was yet another spectacular dish Kari crafted in our red French oven, a pot from which most of my favorite homemade dinners derive. She created the dinner adapting a Bon Apetit recipe from Epicurious.com.

On the eyes, the Firesteed 2006 Pinot Noir Oregon (12.5%) was a translucent, strawberry red. On the nose, there were notes of raspberry and strawberry with dusty hints of earth and forest floor. On the palate, the red berry fruits came through with bright acidity and light tannins. It was a modest, yet elegant wine that was very food friendly.

This is a wine that opens up well with time in the glass and certainly overnight in the bottle, for it tasted even better the next day. Unlike other inexpensive pinot noirs, the Firesteed strikes a welcome balance between the sometimes overwhelming (e.g., ripe, extracted) or undewhelming (e.g., thin, flat) wines made at this same price point. After tasting this Firesteed pinot noir, it is clear they have a bias toward crafting "wine that is true to its varietal", just as their web site states.

Drinking the wine brought back memories of IPNC 2008, where I had the opportunity to meet Howard Rossbach, President of Firesteed, and his winemaker, Bryan Croft. Between the two of them, I learned a ton about their approach toward growing grapes and making wine.

Until meeting Howard, I had incorrectly assumed Firesteed, with an annual production of 60,000 cases, was in the bulk-wine business, buying, packaging, and marketing someone else's unsold wine. For most of its sixteen year history, Firesteed has been a virtual winery, contracting fruit in the vineyard and working with a custom crusher to craft the wine.

It's a low overhead approach that has enabled Firesteed to produce affordable Oregon pinot noir, while maintaining an emphasis on quality.

In 2003, Firesteed acquired Flynn Vineyards in Rickreall, Oregon, a vineyard and winery it had been contracting with for many years. It's good to see that Howard's vision for producing inexpensive, quality Oregon pinot noir has not been altered with the transition from a virtual winery to a bricks-and-mortar establishment.

And lucky for all during these challenging times, we can still enjoy good pinot noir without breaking the bank. As such, I look forward to trying other Firesteed wines, especially the Willamette Valley and Citation pinot noirs as well as their pinot gris, rose', and riesling.

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