05 Firesteed, Oregon Pinot Noir

Like a fruity young barbera, this is a warm-weather wine ideal for warm-weather food--and that means New York-style sausage pizza in the park with a Chicago dog chaser. A wine that restaurants should be scooping up in bushels because of its fruit and because of its staying power (only one of a handful of wines I think reasonable to charge for the day after it's been opened). Dominated by a plummy taste and a green chalkboard screech of tannins in the finish, it's a pinot that comes to terms with itself by bottle's end. One that seems shy and defensive before giving its plush (if not unstable) fruit flavors. On come blackberries and mulberries trampled under foot. Tangy and so just right for tomato sauce, this wine seeks all things fatty (like my big mouth) to cut into, which makes it great for the pizza, but I bet especially amazing with duck breast or ribeye. Not that this is a food blog, because it isn't. But when a wine tastes good and makes you hungry, it's something worth talking about. Something worth digesting.