Oregon to Iceland

A very good wine last night. No, make that an excellent wine last night.

In this case it was a 2006 Chehalem Dry Riesling Reserve from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. There was a bit of kerosene in the nose overlying a bit of flowers and white peaches. There was no lime peel or lemon zest in the nose. There was excellent body to the wine and a taste of grapefruit, kiwi and banana. The banana hit at the very back and top of the throat and was just enough to let one know it was there. The wine was dry and very much Alsatian in style and the kerosene stayed through the entire evening. There was good length to the finish and it finally ended with some slate and a bit of lemon to make the very end refreshing. For an Alsatian style Riesling made in the U.S. this is excellent and as good as it gets.

It was an excellent wine with the marinated swordfish done on the grill. Fresh rosemary, crushed garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and olive oil covered the fish for half an hour before it moved to the grill.

The cheese was also excellent. It was from Iceland. The local market has been bringing in a number of products from there and this and another cheese were the latest to be featured. Höfðingi (please don't ask me to pronounce it) is very much in a Camebert style but there is definitely more acidity in the finish. The promo material that came with the cheese tells me that it is only made on the spring when the grass is fresh and the cows are happily munching away on it. There were slices of fresh, crusty Italian bread to top with the cheese and there was the Chehalem Riesling to wash it down. Perfect pairing.