Foodsday Tuesday: Le Vin Est La Vie

Okay, so I've hated on the PLCB and state stores before. And I still think the system is very, very flawed. But once in a while, there's a surprise gem in the Chairman's Selection section. (There's also, apparently, a lot of really bad wine that they're trying to sell quickly in said section. But you take the good with the bad.) One such gem that Ross and I discovered a few months back was a 2005 Valley of the Moon Pinot Blanc.

"Have you ever had pinot blanc before?"

"No, have you?"

"No. Let's try it."

At ten bucks for the bottle, we didn't have much to lose. We took it home, along with a few bottles of wines we knew were good (just in case), chilled it for a few hours, and then uncorked it.

Now, I like to think of myself as a wine person, but not as a wine connoisseur. I love wine. I'm good at wine-and-food pairings. But if you ask me to describe the bouquet of the wine, or to tell you what undertones I'm picking up, I'm probably going to be inexact and inelegant in my description. So I'll just leave it to the Vintner's website:

Aromas of honeysuckle, pear, and lime are accented with a hint of hazelnut. Rich and complex tropical and citrus fruit flavors lead to a creamy finish balanced with crisp green apple tartness.

Which all pretty much translates to: "Yum!"

In the subsequent months, we may have bought up most of Philadelphia's supply of the Valley of the Moon Pinot Blanc. (We're certainly having trouble finding it now!) We have since tried the winery's tasty pinot noir ("Deep ruby color, ripe red cherry fruit aromas with a hint of cola spice; soft velvety tannins support complex flavors of cherry, cranberry, white fig, and a touch of French oak.") as well. It's almost brand loyalty. It's certainly love.

And I have the state store to thank. Keep 'em coming, Chairman. I might stop complaining about the PLCB after all.*

*No, I probably won't stop altogether. But I might be sated into complaining less.

Image via Flickr user serenamatthews