Soléna Pinot Noir Grande Cuvée (2006)

We've had this wine before.  I didn't recognize it right away, but Meghan certainly did.  The 2006 Soléna was a gift from our good friends Kate & Matt during their recent tramp through New Jersey.  It just so happened that the 2003 Soléna Pinot was the bottle I served at a picnic for Meghan in autumn of 2007, right before we got engaged. It's safe to say that a bottle of Boone's Farm would have tasted just as great on that day, so we hadn't the faintest memory of this lovely Oregon pinot.  Seeing this bottle again was a welcome surprise.  It was only fitting to open it for our second anniversary.

This is no modest violet.  The scent of red fruits and berries on the nose nicely translated into a medium-bodied, silky wine.  There was no noticeable acidity to go along with the wine's balanced tannins.  The wine has grip and structure and it pulled you towards a long, complex finish.  I believed this was a bit of spice to this pinot, to which Meghan retorted, "You think every wine is spicy."  I had no good rebuttal.  We're partial to this wine for its sentimental value, but it's a vineyard we'll surely be drinking from for years to come.  New world pinots (read: not French/Italian) typically aren't aged very long, but we've had two bottles of this wine four years after their bottling date and they both held together nicely.  Buy a bottle now and sit on it for a couple years, it'll be worth the wait.

Soléna Pinot Noir Grande Cuvee (2006)
Yamhill Oregon
$25