Louis Latour Pinot Noir Valmoissine

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of spending a week with the Latours at their annual Burgundy Seminar.  It was a wonderful experience that I'll treasure, and what I learned remains with me until this day.

The Latour offices are in the town of Beaune.  They are what is known as a Negociant, meaning that they buy a large amount of theirs grapes from some of the smaller growers in Burgundy.  While they do own vineyards in the Burgundy region, they started investing in other areas of France, particularly in the south.  Burgundy prices had long been going up, and the Latours saw an opportunity to craft great wines at a reasonable price.

Their first purchase was in the Ardeche.  Ardeche is located west of the Rhone Valley and is an ideal climate for Chardonnay.  They produce two wines from this area, one is a stainless steel fermented wine with a clean, and crisp flavorful profile.  The other is called The Grand Ardeche and uses grapes that the Latours feel are perfectly suited for their Burgundian style of wine making.  This means that they are barrel fermented and aged in oak for a certain amount of time.

Now, onto my favorite of the bunch.  After the Latours found so much success making Chardonnay in the south of France, they wanted to find an area to plant Pinot Noir.  Their search ended in the VAR region.  No reason to get wine geeky here, just realize that Pinot Noir needs a long growing season with cool nights.  They found these conditions at an ancient monastary and university named Valmoissine.  At an elevation of about 500 meters, there is plenty of sun during the day, and the nights cool down to ensure a long growing season with plenty of hang time.

I had previously been bitten by the Pinot Noir bug long before I tasted this wine.  The problem was that the bug that bit me sold for about $30.00.  This was not exactly in my price range. So when I tasted the Valoissine Pinot Noir, I new immediatly that this was going to be my go-to Pinot Noir.  It had all the characteristics of the one mentioned above and sells in the $14.99 range.

I'm not going to burden you with all the aromas and flavors I got out of this wine.  It was just a sublime experience that Pinot Noir lovers have, and can only be experience subjectively.  So, I encourage all, not just Pinot Noir lovers to give this wine a taste.  Please share your experience and thoughts in the comment section.

Alsace Farmhouse Chicken with Spaetzle

6 lbs. Chicken (whole cut up, legs and thighs, etc.  I don't recommend chicken breasts)
Salt and Pepper
4 T. Olive Oil
12 T. Butter
1 bulb garlic, minced
2 medium onions, minced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 C. White Wine Vinegar (Martin Pouret)
2 C. White Wine, I used Riesling
2 T. Honey
1 8 oz. jar peach jam
1 T. Dijon mustard
2 T. tomato paste
2 C. Chicken Stock
Parsley

Spaetzle

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange chicken pieces in a large baking pan.  Season with salt and pepper and bake for about 20 mins.  This is to get the outside brown and crispy.  Remove from oven and set aside.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Melt Olive Oil and 4 T. Butter in a large stock pot.  Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic, salt and pepper and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the tomato paste and cook 2 mins.  Next add the vinegar, wine, honey, mustard and peach jam.  Let this reduce by half.  Taste to make sure all is in balance.  If too vinegary, add more honey.  If too sweet, add more vinegar.

Next, pour the vinegar and wine mixture into the roasting pan with the chicken.  Place in oven and roast for about 45 minutes, or until the juices run clear from the chicken.  Remove from oven and set aside.

Cook spaetzle according to package instructions.

To serve, arrange the spaetzle on the bottom of the plate.  Place chicken piece or pieces on top of spaetzle.  Ladle the sauce over top, making sure that the spaetzle get plenty.  Sprinkle parley on top.

Wine Pairings:

Hugel Gentil
Hugel Pinot Gris
J. Lohr Bay Mist Riesling