Dana Pickell

Territory Manager, Triage Wines

PREMIUM WINE

Brickhouse
2007 Chardonnay

Beautiful fruit balanced by a zippy freshness and slightly soft oak notes make this wine ideal with foods that have some richness to them and are replete with the lively flavors of summer produce.

MENU

• Tomato, caramelized onion & cantal cheese galette
• Whole-roasted chicken with charred summer greens
• Roccolo, a cow’s milk cheese from Lombardy, Italy, with sliced baguette and alpine- flower honey

VALUE WINE

Maysara
2008 Pinot Gris

Its brightness, tart fruit, and great acidity make this wine excellent with salty, spicy, and creamy accompaniments, or with dishes that highlight summertime vegetables and fruits.

MENU

• Sliced cucumbers and radishes with good butter and fleur de sel
• Grilled monkfish with chive and chile pepper relish and lemon mash (recipe adapted from Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver)
• Summery peach ice-cream sandwiches with pistachio shortbread cookies 

Andrew Fortang

Sommelier, Le Pigeon

PREMIUM WINE

Francis-Tannahill
2006 Pinot Noir
‘The Hermit’

The menu pairing for this wine highlights both the primary (fruit) and secondary (earth, spice) flavors of this wine. The main course is a dish of bone-marrow gnocchi with snails and garlic from Le Pigeon chef Gabriel Rucker.

MENU

• Frisée and radicchio salad with spice-roasted mushrooms and currants

The heartier lettuces of this salad carry the big flavors of wild mushrooms roasted with a slightly spicy treatment of black pepper, nutmeg, clove and coriander, and dried currants. The spices, currants, and mushrooms all echo notes in the wine.

• Parisienne Gnocchi with Snails & Garlic

This dish balances deep flavors with an elegant touch, as does the wine. The fruit in the wine will balance the pungent garlic and salt notes in the dish, and the snails will bring out the minerality hiding behind the wine’s fruit.

• Semi-firm and firm cow’s milk cheese from eastern France served with membrillo (quince paste) and bread

End this meal with some nice cheeses. To pair with the wine, look to some of the semi-firm and firm cow’s milk cheeses of eastern France—cheeses that have a rich, fruity quality. You don’t want anything to be too acidic or tart.

VALUE WINE

Brandborg
2007 Riesling

This vibrant and complex wine, made by two of the sweetest people in the Oregon wine world, is ideal for a late summer/early fall evening when the weather is still warm. These dishes are meant to echo the wine’s balance of sweetness and acidity. The dessert for this dish is by Nate Flansburgh, Le Pigeon’s pastry chef.

MENU

• Grilled shrimp with corn and chanterelles

If you’ve never had corn and riesling together, you must try it. A good riesling brings out the most amazing earthy notes in corn. This dish of grilled shrimp served over a warm mound of corn dressed with butter, lemon, sautéed chanterelles, and a squeeze of lemon will highlight how complex and versatile riesling, even an inexpensive one, can be.

• Roasted chicken with roasted cherry-tomato relish

Few things are as satisfying as a great roasted chicken, and few things are as versatile as chicken when it comes to wine. What you serve with it makes all the difference. In a very hot oven or broiler, cook the orange cherry tomatoes until they pop and blister. Chop them and mix with roasted garlic, fresh herbs, and good olive oil and use as a condiment for the chicken.

• Lavender Panna Cotta

Serve the delicately herbaceous panna cotta with fruit that has been lightly macerated or stewed with just a little bit of sugar and citrus. With desserts, you usually want a pretty darn sweet wine or the wine may taste austere against the dessert. If you are going to continue with one wine through dinner into dessert, make sure your dessert is not overly sweet and has some nice bright notes—like this one.

Kimberley Paley

Hostess and Sommelier, Paley’s Place

PREMIUM WINE

Ken Wright Cellars
2007 Pinot Noir
‘Abbott Claim Vineyard’

MENU

• Fennel-roasted Rabbit Salad & Fennel Pollen Aioli
• Pasta alla chitarra with pork sugo and porcini
• Chocolate shortcake cherry trifle

VALUE WINE

Abacela
2008 Albariño
‘Estate Grown’

This wine shows nuances, depth, and succinct flavor profiles with each of these courses. It is easy to drink, with a beautiful floral nose that welcomes the spices of the piperade stew, and finishes with a refreshing, bright-acid minerality.

MENU

• Poppy seed–crusted albacore tuna with chickpea purée and fennel salad
• Shell-bean piperade stew
• Fresh Sheep-cheese Ricotta Doughnut Holes with Chestnut Honey 

Erica Landon

PREMIUM WINE

De Ponte
2007 Pinot Noir
‘Baldwin Family Estate’

This small producer from the heart of the Dundee Hills makes beautiful wines with rich, dark, earthy notes that come from the famous Red Hills dirt. Perfect with foods made from fall’s bounty.

MENU

• Grilled Mushroom salad with Arugula
• Grilled herb-marinated pork chops with potatoes
• Bittersweet chocolate cake with dried cherries

VALUE WINE

Stoller
2008 Pinot Noir Rosé
‘JV Estate’

Rosé is a wonderful food wine, and pairs well with the fall produce available in Portland. This serious rosé is perfect with food and can handle rich flavors.

MENU

• Stuffed tomatoes with grilled corn salad
• Roasted Chicken, Ramps, & Potatoes
• Valençay (goat’s milk cheese from France) served with toasted hazelnuts and sliced nectarines

Jeff Groh

PREMIUM WINE

Ken Wright Cellars
2007 Pinot Noir
‘Carter Vineyard’

• Kobe Beef Carpaccio, Grilled Porcini Mushrooms & Oregon Huckleberries
• Smoked chinook salmon, black-eyed peas with braised chard and lardons, pasha orange–infused olive oil
• Heathman pastry chef Joh Gayer’s Oregon cherry pie

VALUE WINE

Chehalem
2008 Chardonnay
‘Inox’

• Virginica Oysters on the half shell & Diver Scallop Crudo
• Roasted Kookoolan Farms chicken with pan gravy and oven-roasted potatoes
• Delice de bourgogne, Ken’s artisan bread