Sideways and Upward with Pinot Noir

The popularity of last year's movie Sideways has put the varietal wine pinot noir front and center with wine enthusiasts. When hearing of the public's sudden interest in the wine, longtime connoisseurs are saying to themselves, "What took everyone so long?"

Interested wine drinkers have a long and special love affair with the pinot noir grape, which produces wine that is lighter in body (the weight of the wine in your mouth) and less tannic than cabernet, zinfandel or merlot.

Though light in body, pinot noir is no lightweight when it comes to flavor. What's not to like? Good pinots show complex flavors of warm baked cherries, plums, cedar, chocolate, jam and mushrooms. In its best form, the wine is silky in texture.

Given all those flavors, pinot noir may sound like a meal in itself, but it is really the perfect food wine, favoring salmon dishes, games dishes and steaks.

Restaurants and wine retailers that wish to do proper homage to pinot should have representation from Burgundy (France), Oregon and parts of California, such as the Santa Monica Valley and the Saint Ynez Valley (Sideways country). The Carneros region of California is also a great pinot noir region. Although the grape is highly sensitive to soil and climate changes, it will usually grow anywhere a good chardonnay grape grows.

Pinot noir not only requires great care to grow, it is also the most difficult wine to make. The grape can be unstable during the wine-making process. Given its temperament, it is a real accomplishment for a winemaker to produce a good pinot noir.

Though a real treat for the wine drinker, the effort can make this wine a little pricey. Nevertheless, there are some great deals out there for the wonderful pinot noir experience. Seek the 2002 vintages and enjoy them if you have the chance. Many excellent 2003 pinots are also showing quite well, while 2004 is promising to be the best vintage of the decade, reminiscent of 1997.

My personal favorites include Williams & Selyem from the Russian River in California, Cambria from the Santa Maria Valley, Au Bon Climat from Santa Barbara and, of course, Hitching Post, which is made in the Santa Barbara Vineyard where Sideways was filmed.

Madeleine Ahlquist is co-owner of One Eleven Chop House and The Sole Proprietor in Worcester, both of which are frequent winners of Wine Spectator's "Award of Excellence." Comments? E-mail editorial@worcestermag.com.