Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Meunier Estate 07

A most interesting and enjoyable red wine, made from a grape usually blended into champagne style wines.

Prounounced “moon-YAY,” Meunier is an old French word for a miller, someone who grinds wheat into flour. Pinot Meunier’s young spring leaves are covered with a soft white fuzz which resembles a miller’s flour-dusted clothes. The Pinot Meunier grapes are purple- black, like Pinot noir and related to Pinot noir and to the lighter- skinned Pinot gris and Pinot blanc. In Champagne, Meunier’s earthy flavors are used to complement the elegance of the Pinot noir and the zest of Chardonnay in a traditional Champagne blend. However, although Pinot Meunier makes up more than half the grapes grown in Champagne, it is rarely grown outside this region. In France, it is illegal to use Pinot Meunier as anything but sparkling wine.

Eyrie ferments its Pinot Meunier on the skins, to extract the full red color and flavor of the grape, and treat it to the same barrel aging as our Pinot noir. Appellation Dundee Hills, Oregon. Pair With wild mushroom tart, bacon- wrapped quail, roasted winter vegetables