A Special Wine for a Special Occasion

Last Friday night Pris and celebrated our 9 year anniversary of being together.  Its been a great ride, and we wanted something a little special to commemorate the occasion.  So I went to Mike Jones at Jones Liquor to see if he had any recommendations.  As usual he had a number of them, for both the night and Thanksgiving.  I ended up picking up a bottle of Maison Louis Latour 2009 Gevrey-Chambertin. 

This is an excellent French Pinot Noir.  Unlike a lot of American Pinots, the Latour was bold, earthy, and highly complex.  The aroma was the first hint of what was to come.  Rich fruit mingled with mineral undertones, smoke and licorice.  The flavor was exceptionally deep and intricate.  Dark ripe fruits hit the front of the palate followed by a rich earthiness.  A lot has been made about "terroir" or the soil the grapes are grown in.  Different folks give it different weighty, but with the Latour you can really taste the earth these grapes were produced in.  This aspect of the wine adds a rich complexity that's absent in most of the Pinots we've had.

Even though I would've liked to have cooked something special for our anniversary, I couldn't due to an event the following night.  So we ordered up a couple steaks from Toscafino and settled in for the evening.  Despite being a Pinot, the wine paired great with the steaks.  The rich complexity of the Latour was more than enough to compliment the herbed and buttered ribeyes.  The versatility of this wine will allow it to mix with any number of dishes.

I picked this wine up at Jones Liquor in Brownsville.  As it was a special occasion I splurged a bit on it.  The Latour runs for $52 a bottle, but is well worth it.  For more information on Maison Louis Latour wines you can visit:  http://www.louislatour.com/pages/index.php