A White Wine Fit for a Meadow

2008 Ross Andrew Meadow Oregon White Wine
For Mother's Day, we went wine tasting in Woodinville. We were on the prowl for the perfect white wine to go with the grilled prawn Caesar salad we planned to have for dinner. We found our winner at Ross Andrew's tasting room. At $16 a bottle, Meadow is more than most Wonder Wines. And worth every penny! A zippy blend of Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Gewurztraminer, it's just about the most perfect sunny weather sipping wine you could hope to find. Since it's just the beginning of summer sipping here in the NW, you might as well just get a case. You won't be sorry.

Note: For those interested, other contenders for the "Mother's Day Perfect Pairing Prize" were Mark Ryan's Viognier (always delish and, as many of you know, the marketer in me loves this brand so much I blogged about it!), J Bookwalter's 2009 Couplet (they won big points for letting mums do their tasting for free on Sunday), and Novelty Hill/Januik's Rose.

Le Campuget est formidable!

2008 Le Campuget Syrah Viognier
Chateau de Campuget has been turning out price performers for the past decade. This one is no exception. It follows the current "red/white blend trend" and is stellar. Sometimes adding a white wine just makes for watery, ambivalent wine, but not so with this bottle. The Viognier softens the Syrah (which, let's be honest, can overwhelm a lot of lighter fare), yet adds complexity. It wouldn't be as good with salmon, but it'd otherwise be a great--and much lower cost--alternative to Pinot Noir.