AUGUST 2022
The Omaha
Event Report: Burgundy vs. Pinot Noir
What’s New
In June, we had a joint event with the Council Bluffs Branch at Au Courant in Benson. Our wine theme was comparing Burgundy to Pinot Noir, mostly from the Sonoma Coast, but also Oregon. As usual, Au Courant did a stellar job with the food. Check out the story.
Hopefully you have been using the IWFS Member App for food and wine pairings. If not, here is the link https://www.iwfs.org/membersapp. The app gets updated periodically so you always have the latest version. Chairman Steve Hipple has asked all members to contribute great wine and food pairings of their own. Contact the Wine & Food Pairing Guide Committee by sending an email to Joe Temple at (iwfshelp@gmail.com). At that point, the Committee will review your pairings suggestions and potentially add them to the Wine & Food Pairing Guide. The Board is working on bringing back an event evaluation form which will be emailed to you after each event. We want to know what you liked, didn’t like, would want more of, or why you didn’t come. Please take the time to complete and return the evaluation. This is just another way we can fine tune our events and bring you what you want. Longtime Omaha Branch member, Board member, and lover of food and wine, John Fischer, died on June 25th. His obituary, oriented towards his contributions to IWFS, has been placed on the IWFS web site. For a direct link to the obituary, click the hyper link: https://www.iwfs.org/americas/news/obituaries/2022/dr.-john-r.-fischer At every party there are two kinds of people - those who want to go home and those who don’t. The trouble is they are married to each other.
- E. A. Wiggam
Best of the Cockle Bur compiled & edited by Harry B. Otis, 3rd President 1973- 1974
Burgundy vs. Pinot Noir Written by Tom Murnan, Photos by Ron Policky
Wine made from the Pinot Noir grape has been growing in popularity for the past 10 years or more. Partially, I think this is because it does not have the heavy, drying tannins that heavier varietals, like Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah have. It is more of a finesse grape, difficult to grow, and like Goldilocks, everything has to be just so for it to come out well. Jancis Robinson said the following about Pinot Noir. “Pinot, as I have said, can vary enormously but its essential characteristic is charm. It tends to be fruity, perfumed and haunting. It dances on the palate rather than overpowering it.” Burgundy is the spiritual home of Pinot Noir and the area that made the grape famous. So I thought it would be fun to compare Burgundy to the upstarts in Sonoma and Oregon. Where the food demanded a white wine, used Chardonnay, just like Burgundy does. After quaffing and munching down on three kinds of cured meats, three cheeses, fresh oysters and other delicacies, we sat down for a blind tasting of two Burgundies and two Pinots from the Sonoma Coast, an area getting more popular all the time. It is near the Russian River Valley, only closer to the Pacific Ocean. Our job was to identify which wines were from Burgundy, and which were Pinots. Roughly half the 41 participants (less 3 no-shows) were able to correctly identify the wines. For dinner we had Chardonnay with Chovy’s Egg over Piedmontese Beef Tartare (Course 1) and Wild Steelhead Trout from Scotland (Course 4). With Course 3, Raviole du Dauphine, we had two Burgundies. For Course 5, Piedmontese Beef Duet (strip and short rib), we had a pair: Pinot Noir and Burgundy. Dessert was a Chocolate Cremeux, where we enjoyed a Sauternes. A lot of wine and a lot of food, but just the right portion size. It was wonderful!
2022 UPCOMING OMAHA BRANCH EVENTS
AUG
18
VODKA & GIN MARTINI TASTING TO START V. Mertz Producers: Tad Singer
SEP
TBD
OCT
TBD
TBD TBD
TBD Producers: Mike Wilke
TBD Producers: John Matthews