Raclette is both a cheese and a grill, and the Raclette Grill lends itself to winter dinners with a lot of people, communing over food and wine for an entire evening. Last week, we spent an evening with good wine and even greater friends, and the light, crisp wines were perfect with the food. Overall, we had five great wines with varying QPR ratings.
The Swiss Raclette Grill, perfect for long winter evenings
The Eyrie Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir is a solid, basic and light Pinot, very Rheingau-esque in style. German Pinot Noir, called Blauburgunder, is much lighter than Oregon Pinot, without the “smoke” or ash bouquet and pairs well with the heavy melted Raclette cheese.
Price: $25-$27
QPR rating: Average
Available: Eyrie Vineyards, Liner & Elsen
Eyrie Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir- German in Style
The Soter Estate grown Brut Rose is a beautiful, crisp sparkling Rose, perfect with just about any food. We LOVED it, and if you get a chance to try it jump on it! The price is a little steep at $50, but it’s great. Better than Veuve Clicquot in my book. Mark Bosko, Wine Director at Press Wine Bar in Dundee said about Soter’s Brut Rose: “This wine makes you wonder why everyone in Oregon isn’t making (sparkling) wine like this”.
Soter Brut Rose - Spectacular!
Price: $50
QPR Rating: Average
Availability: Soter Vineyards, Whole Foods
The 2008 Haden Fig Pinot Noir is an excellent debut from Erin and Jordan Nuccio, and Northwest-Wine calls it: “immediately drinkable and spectacular value”, and they are absolutely correct. Compared to the 2007 Eyrie Vineyards Pinot, the Haden Fig is more complex, richer with an Oregon Pinot Noir bouquet. While different in style than the Eyrie, the Haden Fig was also a nice pairing with the cheese, bread, and meat.
2008 Haden Fig Pinot Noir, solid debut
Price: $18-$20
QPR Value: Very Good
Availability: Liner & Elsen, Cork Wine Shop
Elio Perrone Moscato d'Asti, off dry dessert wine
The Elio Perrone is a very good value, and is a dessert wine with a little bit of sparkle. Not too syrupy, but sweet, fruity and crisp. We usually hate dessert wines, but this one is great, especially for the uniqueness.
Price: $16
QPR Rating: Slightly Above Average
Availability: City Market
