I absolutely get why women are prone to swooning over guys who are either great musicians or European winemakers (or even both, a la Sting). After all, I suffer the same affliction/affection with those on the distaff side: Chrissie Hynde, Susan Tedeschi, Patrizia Felluga … and now Veronique Drouhin.

Veronique is the  impossibly charming force behind her family’s Oregon property, which includes Domaine Drouhin and Cloudline wines. The secret to her gracefully aging must have something to do with living in Burgundy and visiting Oregon three times a year for hands-on work vinifying some seriously swell juice.

The Cloudline Chard is quite a bargain for $16, juicy but with Chablis-like crispness at its core and a long, smooth finish. The Dom. Drouhin “Arthur” Chardonnay, named for her son and made from Dijon clones (”we had to get the Dijon clones for this wine,” she said), is even longer and serious complex for  a $30 American chard. Yum.

But the star of her tasting lunch at the Nicollet Island Inn was the Dom. Drouhin “Laurene” 2005 Pinot Noir, a spectacular effort with great depth and spot-on structure. It even had a little of that “barnyard”  aroma that pinot fans (or at least some of them) love. And at $60, it’s a lot cheaper than the same vintage’s better efforts from Veronique’s homeland.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.