Barb Wild’s Weekly Pick Chevalier de Dyonis
Barb Wild has been sipping again and this week’s pick is Chevalier de Dyonis, Read more on wine on The Good Wine Gal site at https://goodwinegal.blogspot.com/
If you watched “Sideways”, you will recall Miles shrieking in exasperation ‘no more f’ing merlot’. It was a moment that changed consumer behaviour forever with the rise in appreciation for Pinot Noir and more noticeably, a decline in the love for Merlot. This week I wanted to share my value “go to” Pinot Noir that offers a classic burgundy taste experience at a great price.
A little about Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is an international red grape variety, grown in cooler climates around the world. Wine lovers often fall in love with pinot noir after some time in their wine journey. Why? I think it’s because it’s the opposite of Napa Cab where many originally fall in love with wine.
Pinot Noir is perhaps the opposite of Napa Cab. It’s subtle and light bodied, with more acidity than softer tannins usually delivering aromas of red fruit, sometimes fresh or muddled cherries, raspberries, strawberries, cranberry and rhubarb. The flavours can extend to earthy, salty, sautéed mushrooms, baked cinnamon spice and often ‘barnyard’ with age. Some call it the thinker’s wine. For winemakers it it’s the “heartbreak grape”. It has many personalities stretching from overt to subtle, beguiling, sometimes a main character and a sometimes a supporting actor.
Chevalier de Dyonis’ Winemaker and his story
The story is there are two nameless winemakers from Quebec who travel to Romania every year to attend harvest and make Chevalier de Dyonis. This wine is 100% Pinot Noir from the Dealu Mare, one of the best wine regions in Romania. This is a 110 hectare vineyard with vines that are 3 – 10 years old. The grapes are tended with attention to detail, year around. At harvest grapes are hand-picked. The grapes are destemmed and put into stainless steel tanks gently macerating for 2 – 3 at moderate temperatures extracting a nice ruby color and preserving flavours and freshness.
Why I like it
I like this wine because it is easy to drink and goes well with my pork dumplings, duck confit, or mushrooms on toast. The aromas introduce cherry, toasted wood and cinnamon spice. The flavours continue on my taste buds along with some nice acidity that lifts and carries to a pleasant finish.
What it goes with
Because of its lighter body and higher acidity, Pinot Noir is a great food wine. Recommended dishes for Chevalier de Dyonis include anything with roasted pork, chicken or mushrooms. Things like salmon steak, pork dumplings, chicken asparagus crepes, and mushrooms on toast. Try these Pork Chops From Delish
Roast Pork Chops
INGREDIENTS
4 pork loin chops
kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp. freshly minced rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
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DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375°. Season pork chops generously with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl mix together butter, rosemary, and garlic. Set aside.
In an oven safe skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil then add pork chops. Sear until golden, 4 minutes, flip and cook 4 minutes more. Brush pork chops generously with garlic butter.
Place skillet in oven and cook until cooked through (145° for medium), 10-12 minutes. Serve with more garlic butter.
Where you can find it
You can find Chevalier de Dyonis at Legacy Liquor Store, Everything Wine and other private wine stores in BC. At Legacy it retails for $16.65 before taxes. Bargain!
Pricing Grid
Wine quality can be evaluated by wine judges, sommeliers and wine professionals. So what about price? It’s my experience that you can find quality wine in every price range and it might help you to know what I mean by mid-week quality wine. For reference this is a common grid used to qualify pricing for wine at retail/winery. This is not about restaurant wine bottles or wine by the glass. Mid-week wine is in the inexpensive to lower mid-price range.
- Inexpensive= under $19
- Mid-price = $20 to $39
- High-price = $40 – 59
- Expensive = $60 – $80
As Good Wine Gal, what I look for in a wine is character and balance. Character refers to a quality that I like about the wine that keeps me sipping. Balance refers to the component pieces in a glass of wine including aroma, flavour, acidity, tannin and body with a final finishing note that is pleasant. This sounds complicated but it isn’t. It’s really about organizing your thoughts about your experience which in my training was called a systematic approach to tasting (SAT) – a process that anyone can learn. One way to develop your process is to practice, take a wine course of both.
