#61- Pinot Blanc

It sucks to write about wine when you're doing a cleanse and can't drink (or eat for that matter). But the blog must go on. I have four blogs to catch up on and hopefully they'll all be done by the time I can drink again (bring on #65!).

Mom provided the meal for this wine- she made a ton of chicken jumbalaya and it was delicious. I know it's not hard to make, I've just never made it. Must do that sometime soon. Anyway, trust me when I say this dish was delicious.

The wine for this week and kicking off the next 20 wines is a white wine from France- the Pinot Blanc. While it sounds like it should be a pretty easy grape to find (just like the Pinot Gris or Pinot Noir) it's not actually that easy to find so I was pretty happy to find it at Liquor Depot in Callingwood for a very reasonable $16.79. The wine is Alsace Willm, the first winery to export its wine to the U.S.

The wine did remind me of a Chardonnay though it's not related to that grape at all. It wasn't at all oaky but it had similar dimensions to the wine as the Chardonnay does. It was straw coloured and I found the wine very much complimented the jumbalaya, especially the chicken and the sausage. With a hint of spiciness to the wine, I think overall it was a great combination. There may have been some fruit flavours in there as well but I couldn't really discern them.

The Pinot Blanc grape  is apparently a genetic mutation of the Pinot Noir grape (basically one vine on the pinot noir vines creates a white grape rather than the black grape-- almost an albino of sorts). Learned something didn't you?

It's often used as the base grape for sparkling wines (it does lend itself well for the crispiness of the wine) as well as Burgandy and Champagne wines.

Overall, I really enjoyed this wine and it's too bad this grape isn't more readily available.

Craig really enjoyed the wine as well describing it as smooth and fruity with a sweet taste.  He tasted hints of grapefruit (good for him as I did not!)