6 bottle level     $28 (member price $25)
100% Pinot Noir   13.2% ABV

We’ve featured a number of R. Stuart’s wine in these pages, but not their modestly priced Pinots, as I wasn’t crazy about their Big Fire Pinot … until now.  My rep stopped by to taste me on it, and as a courtesy I did, and was nicely suprised.  Rob nailed this 2021 vintage, which has more complexity than previous years.  Rob and Maria Stuart met at the 1990 INPC (International Pinot Noir Celebration) in McMinnville. They quickly fell in love, and Maria moved from Chicago to McMinnville, where they founded R. Stuart in 2002 after stints at Hans Kornell and Erath.  Cranberry, strawberry, sage, nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, hint of refreshing bitterness on the finish.  Aged in French oak (mostly neutral.)

Food Pairing Suggestions:
Pair this pinot with duck confit over mesclun salad, pulled pork with Alabama white sauce and truffled macaroni, portobello mushrooms stuffed with sausage and blue cheese, brown sugar crust, roast pork with a cranberry glaze, butternut squash ravioli with brown butter sage sauce, honey basted quail with butternut squash coulis and pomegranate reduction, salmon over herbed goat cheese polenta, roast chicken beurre rouge over wild mushroom rice, classic coq au vin, Moroccan‐spiced grilled lamb chops, and creamy risotto with stewed tomatoes and Taleggio cheese.