There is a quiet rule a lot of people still believe: red wine at room temperature, always. It is worth breaking, especially in July, and especially with Pinot.

Oregon Pinot is light, bright and high in acid, which makes it one of the few reds that loves a little chill. Twenty minutes in the fridge, not the freezer, just enough to take the warmth off. Cold tightens its red fruit, sharpens the acid, and makes the whole glass feel like exactly the right thing to drink on a warm evening. A heavy, oaky red would sulk at that temperature. Pinot comes alive.

So this is the Saturday picture. The light still long. A mushroom tart cooling on the counter. A bottle of Oregon Pinot with twenty minutes of chill on it. And, ideally, someone across the table to say the wine smells like the woods, so you can say yes, that is the whole point.

Wine was never a solitary thing. It is an ingredient in an evening, and the evening is better shared.

Savour the good stuff.

Cheers to my dear friend, Kara, who lives right on the edge of the Dundee Hills and creates the world's most beautiful roses as her family's labor of love - Heirloom Roses. 🍷