Not Quite

Sometimes I get a craving for a particular wine, and last night it was pinot noir. I suppose I was daydreaming of warmer weather (it barely got out of the 30s yesterday), and a lighter red to go with it. Bobby brought home a 2008 Cavit Pinot Noir (Trento, Italy), and while it was a pleasant wine, it did not exactly hit the bull's-eye. Of course it had the brightness and berry flavors you'd expect in a pinot noir, but this one had a slight bitterness that was off-putting. I liked the light texture, though, and the medium body (12 percent alcohol), but I think I'll keep looking for the pinot of my daydreams.

Bubbles and History

On Sunday we settled in for Oscar Night, which is something of a holiday at our house. The broadcast had its moments but was one of the most tedious I can remember: I would have slashed the homage to horror movies, the dance number before the best score award and the memorial for John Hughes, not to mention the cringe-inducing testimonials before the actor/actress awards. That would have saved 40 minutes at least! But I was excited to see Kathryn Bigelow with her big win as the first female director, for "The Hurt Locker." She deserved it for her intense, gut-wrenching masterpiece.
We feasted on shrimp cocktail, sushi and crème caramel, and the Champagne was one of my old favorites, Piper-Heidsieck ($38). Too bad the bubbly ran out long before the show was over.

A Charming Chard

Made French onion soup on Sunday night. No sherry in the house as the recipe requested, so I improvised with white wine, a 2007 Walnut Crest Chardonnay (Valle Central, Chile), and the soup turned out absolutely irresistible. Might have also been the thick layer of Gruyère, but who's counting?
So how was the wine in the glass? Drinking chardonnay reminds me of my relationship with coffee, which I started dabbling with in high school. I didn't love it at first but kept coming around to it in its different variations and eventually grew to love it. I can't say I love chardonnay yet, but it's trying to work its charms on me. This one had a clean, crisp scent of minerals and was light on the palate (no oak, 13 percent alcohol, about $10), with a neutral finish.
I could drink this again, and from me, that's high praise for a chard.