My girlfriend and I recently took a long weekend trip to the mountains of Southern PA for an adventure in the Laurel Highlands. There are some great foodie type restaurants, and it's a nice place to go relax for a few days. The first night we thought we would cook together and make ourselves a nice meal. We wanted to just relax over a bottle of 2008 Remoissenet Bourgogne Blanc and decided we would make a stir fry. What a complement the Remoissenet was to the dish! It brought out the flavors of the squash and zucchini but never blanketed them. The '08 Remoissenet was less acidic and more rounded than I expected a Bourgogne Blanc to be; it was fabulous!
The next day, the pooch, my girlfriend and I spent hiking a trail and put a good six miles on our shoes. The trail was laced with color and beauty and afforded us the opportunity to see some wild blackberries and blueberries growing. By the time we got back, we were spent and had no desire to cook. So, we decided to make a reservation.
I called up "Out of the Fire" to try to get a table. We were told that the restaurant was fully booked, but the outside patio was first come first serve. We decided we would get there when it opened to get a table. When we got there, the door was locked, but outside stood four parties of people waiting to do the same thing we were doing. Lucky for us, we got a table right away. We ordered a bottle of sparkling wine from California and a bottle of 2008 R Wines Permutations Pinot Noir, which is an Australian wine. We started our dinner off with the bubbles and a beautiful bruschetta appetizer with a pear balsamic reduction and avocado. The dish was to die for?so much so we ordered a second plate! For our main course, we decided to make a twist on their BLT sandwich trading the bacon for a portabella mushroom, which our waiter renamed the sandwich PLT (very fitting I know).
I didn't know what to expect from this Pinot, but was floored when I took my first sip. The bouquet of raspberries and cherries was evident, and the body was smooth and luscious. It was an absolutely fantastic display for Pinot Noir and tasted well over its price $13.95! This wine also received 90 points from Stephen Tanzer, and at this points to price ratio, I would grab some of this in a heart beat. Dinner was topped off with a nice double shot of espresso.