In these trying times, as you and I tilt back a fine wine, there are others who are not as fortunate.  I had the opportunity to join my neighbor, Robert, who is a DeLoach Vineyards club member, and attend a wine event sponsored by Tower where Jean-Charles Boisset himself entertained, talked about his wines and asked us to join him in the fight against hunger.  The event was held at Paul’s Restaurant.  Basically, for every bottle of wine purchased over the next 6 months from Tower, Boisset Family Estates will supplement 3 meals for families in need.  What’s more, these will be families in Georgia.  Of course, they are touring the nation and asking other retailers and restaurants to do the same in their states and regions.  I walked away with a case order.  Won’t you help?

Boisset Family Estates includes the DeLoach Vineyards, Lyeth Estate, Oceana and French Rabbit labels and we had an opportunity to taste wines from each that evening.  Robert and I were partial to the DeLoach brand, but mostly Robert who has been drinking their wine for decades, and Jean-Charles was very excited to talk to a rabid fan.  Of course, I am very much a Pinot Noir fan and this is the grape Jean-Charles really likes to focus on, so this was a treat for me too.

Boisset owns one of only two Pinot Presses in the U.S. of which the main feature is a much slower pressing time and smaller fractions.  The Pinot grapes, most of which are organically farmed, are then slow pressed for 2-3 hours before they are racked into barrels.  They also implement a 30 day slow fermentation at cooler temperatures in open wood barrels.  He doesn’t like to use too much new oak so that it does not overbear the delicate fruit that you want in a traditional Pinot Noir.

Our favs on the night were:

2007 DeLoach Pinot Noir OFS – black cherry and pepper spice on the nose, thought just a little hot.  Red fruit and some toffee on the taste, very nice and balanced.

2006 DeLoach Pinot Noir Green Valley– light toast, crackers on the nose with smooth, light cherries on the taste.  Went well with the pork tapas we had, which is the traditional French Burgundy pairing.  Here’s a short video of Jean-Charles talking about this wine and the fact it won over other Pinots (i.e. Burgundy) in a recent tasting in France… listen for the great quote about “wine experts”

YouTube - Link toJean-Charles Boisset