Talk-A-Vino

Let me make this clear – this is not the post about Kirsch, a brandy made out of [originally] morello cherries. This is rather self-talk as I’m answering my own comment made a few days ago on Twitter.

About a month ago, right before Halloween, Last Bottle Wines, one of my favorite sources of great wines at reasonable prices, run their Mystery Cases event. I participated in this fun event last year, got a $144 mystery case with 12 bottles, and loved every one of them. I would be happy to get again a 12 bottles case, but I missed it, so I decided to try a $150 mystery case – except this was a 6 bottles case. I had a $30 credit with Last Bottle wines, thanks to someone signing up with Last Bottle Wines using my link, so that brought the deal to $120 for 6 bottles, which translates into about $20 per bottle – not a bad deal in my book.

On Monday, I received the wine. Inside, there were 6 bottles, all red, 5 wines from California, and one from Italy. I read the enclosed description of the wines, and two of them had the word “Kirsch” used in the description, and one was also mentioning “blueberry pie”.

I have to admit – I don’t drink a lot of Kirsch. Heck, I just don’t drink Kirsch. So in my memory from maybe 10 years ago, Kirsch is something sweet, and I don’t like my wines sweet unless it is strictly a dessert wine. I shared my frustration on Twitter, also asking if anyone knew anything about these wines, but it appears some folks were only familiar with the Italian wine, but not with any from California.

As I started prepping for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, I needed to drink something. After deciding that I don’t want to touch any samples as I have a whole wine program already planned for tomorrow, I decided that it might be a good idea to pop one of the latest arrivals. Pinot Noir seemed like something I wanted, so I pulled this bottle of 2016 PARO Pinot Noir Hogan’s Run Vineyard Russian River Valley (14.5% ABV).

I never heard the name of the producer so I had to do some research. PARO name is made out of the names of two friends, Patrick Murray and Rob Scherer, who came to the winemaking after successfully crafting many batches of beer.

After some successful experiments, Patrick decided to embrace winemaking professionally, got an enology degree from the state university in Fresno California, and after graduation started working at Field Stone Winery as an assistant winemaker. One wine that was not made at the winery was Pinot Noir, and Patrick always had a passion for the grape. In 2004, he asked for permission to make Pinot Noir, and this was the beginning of PARO.

Today PARO makes a number of Pinot Noir wines (6 according to the list on the website at the moment of writing) which are available either directly from the winery, via the wine club, or in a few select restaurants.

So how about that Kirsch?

Here is the Last Bottle description of the wine: “Kirsch, plums, and strawberry, with Asian spices and good medium-weight texture. Simply delicious”. After the very first sip, I realized that Kirsch is not the enemy – I rather should drink more Kirsch if it tastes that good. And I can wholeheartedly sign under “simply delicious”. Beautifully constructed, fresh wine with lots of energy, Kirsch:), crunchy, crisp cherries brimming with acidity, a touch of the forest floor, medium finish. A pure delight (Drinkability: 8+).

I want to also mention the label of the wine. Each vintage of PARO is paired with a specific painting that finds its way on the wine’s label. The 2016 vintage was paired with the work by the artist Susan Reid called Unwind.

My last year’s mystery case was 12 out of 12 successful. I like how this case already looks promising and hoping once again to reach a perfect 6 out 6 score. Until the next time – cheers!