I ate tonight at Hilltop House, a restaurant in an elegant home built between 1910 and 1912 in Fayetteville, NC. The original owners were descendants of immigrants from the Island of Skye. There are dining options in several rooms such as the sun room, the garden room, the more formal red room. I chose to dine in the more casual lounge area tonight. Hilltop House offers a flight of any three wines on their by-the-glass list and I chose to have a Riesling, a rose' and a Pinot Noir. I had the 2011 SOMMERPALAIS Riesling, M-S-R with a tasty roll before my appetizer came out and then with a cup of shrimp bisque with a bit of sherry. It was served very chilled and was acidic, crystal-like, and with minerality (stones and maybe even flint.) I was pleased that it didn't show obvious residual sugar. I had not heard of this wine before and I assume it is an inexpensive wine produced in large quantities for restaurant usage, but I found it pleasant. It might have been less appealing at room temperature. (Just Googled it and it is a product of Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt.)
I had the server bring out both the rose' and the red wine with the entrée--Hilltop House Signature Chicken Breast (stuffed with artichoke, sun-dried-tomatoes, spinach, and Feta cheese) served with risotto, baby asparagus and Swiss chard. The vintage for the rose' was not listed and I didn't inquire.
ELIZABETH SPENCER ROSE'', Mendocino, CA. I was pretty confident that this was a rose' of Pinot Noir. It was a pale color with clarity. Strawberry-scented and flavored. Bright and light on its feet. Pleasant but not exceptional or showing much depth. It was probably a better match to the chicken dish than the other Pinot Noir.
2011 SIMPLE LIFE PINOT NOIR, CA. (An Internet search reveals that the fruit for this wine is from Clarksburg AVA and Paso Robles area.) The wine is a pretty, brilliant ruby color. Very floral and cherry-rich nose; alluring scents. Some clove notes also. Perhaps high extraction? but nearly irresistible. Bigger than I expected. I can see this as a crowd pleaser for non-Geeky wine drinkers. Very quaffable. The website of the winery reveals an interesting composition: 77% Pinot Noir, 8% Barbera, 7% Sangiovese, 4% Grenache, 2% Tempranillo, and 2% Merlot.) 13.5% abv. Winemaker is Greg Kitchens.
"VINTAGE (from Simple Life Winery website:)
The 2011 vintage was a trying one for growers. It was an unusually cool year and a late frost
affected many vineyards cutting yields and pushing out harvest. The weather remained unseasonably
cool through much of the growing season, and was devoid of any real grape ripening
heat spikes until well into September. Rain and lower temperature returned again in October
further reducing yields and bringing fears of botrytis. These early rain events gave way to the
long-awaited Indian summer, with the grapes finally getting ripe enough to pick. While the
harvest was not abundant, the emerging crop displayed powerfully concentrated flavors developed
during the extended hang-time they enjoyed."
The extended hang time may explain the thought I had that the winemaker may have gone for high extraction. Perhaps the impressive nose and flavors were from the longer hang time. This is available for only about $13 a bottle on www.wine-searcher.com but with limited availability. Good QPR for those who favor a juicy, intriguing Pinot Noir blend.