My wife, incredible chef that she is, put together some shrimp tacos this evening. It had shrimp (of course), portabello mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, and a marinade of lime juice, olive oil, Old Aay, garlic, cliantro, and some other stuff - who knows - I'm not the chef, just the happy gourmet. This of course presented me the problem of which of the available wines to accompany. I had thought of a Savignon Blanc, but the dish asked for more. I had a Laurel Ridge reserve Pinot Noir (2002) I had picked up on a recent trip to Willamette Valley I'd picked it up at the vineyard, so was quite happy with it at the time, but it had not shown all that well against a salmon a few days prior. I had found it dark and a bit harsh (a surprise for a p.n.) and it overpowered the salmon. But against this dish I thought it would find its match.
What a surprise... the dark flavors of the spices in the shrimp tacos were perfect for the wine, and it shone in all its glory. Not only was it not harsh, it was quite smooth and showed quite a bit of complexity - just what had induced me to pick it at the winery. Interestingly, the portabellos had a sweetness which would have also been perfect with a s.b.; had I been in the mood I might have opened both up and done a comparison, but I was enjoying the pinot too much.
93.88275 for the combo on the modified Parker scale.
Jose