Aging Nicely: 2000 Bethel Heights Flat Block Reserve

American Pinots are often thought to be lightweights, not particularly cellar worthy. That may be true for some American Pinot Noirs but not true for the 2000 Bethel Heights Flat Block Reserve I had the pleasure of drinking over two nights recently.

The estate–grown grapes came from a three acre block of Pommard clone vines in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA in Oregon and the resulting wine was barrel-aged in 60 percent new French oak for 14 months. Built for the cellar, this is a big body wine and the color is a deep blood red.

On the nose there is dark fruit and earth and on the palate there is plenty of unctuous fruit—dark cherry predominates. The mouthfeel is smooth and the fruit yields to some nice acid and some licorice. The finish was medium to long with fine tannins and lingering cherry and chocolate flavors. Or maybe I was tasting the dark-chocolate caramel dusted with sea salt that I was nibbling on as I made my notes. Likely, but nonetheless what a dessert it made!

There were less than 500 cases made of this wine so I doubt you will still find it in circulation. However, it proves that some producers are making Pinot Noirs that do hold up and shine after close to ten years in the bottle.

To find out more about this family-owned and managed winery located in Salem, Oregon, click here.

Female Wine Drinkers Less likely to Gain Weight than Non-drinkers

Another good reason to drink red wine (as if we needed one!) comes from a ScienceDaily report of a recent study done by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, who measured the weight gain over an average of 13 years of women who started with a body mass index in the normal range. Here’s what they found:

Compared with women who did not drink at all, those who consumed some but less than 40 grams per day of alcohol were less likely to become overweight or obese. Women who drank 15 to less than 30 grams per day had the lowest risk, which was almost 30 percent lower than that of non-drinkers.

‘An inverse association between alcohol intake and risk of becoming overweight or obese was noted for all four types of alcoholic beverages [red wine, white wine, beer and liquor], with the strongest association found for red wine and a weak yet significant association for white wine after multivariate adjustment,’ the authors write.

The women who were least likely to gain weight were occasional to moderate drinkers. Forty grams per day of alcohol is a roughly a glass of wine a day. As always moderation is the key, as is your choice of food pairing. A big chunk of brie with your glass of wine will not lead to weight loss.


flickr photo by salvis.are