QPRwines Value Index Identifies Wine ValuesIn this issue you will find 2001-2004 West Coast Pinot Noir.When combining all the vintages by score and price, the 2004 vintage has 21 “Great Value” wines, the 2003 has 19 “Great Values”, the 2002 has 15 and the 2001 has four “Great Value” wines.When comparing wines scoring 90 points or more, only 42% of the 2004 vintage wines average 90 points or above while the 2003 vintage has 29%, the 2001 vintage has 26% and the 2002 vintages has only 25%. In terms of the average price for a 90 scoring wine, the 2004 vintage averages $48,  the 2001 averages $49, the 2001 and 2003 vintages average $52.At the high end the 2004 August West, Santa Lucia Highlands Rosella’s Vineyard averages 96 points and at $50 it is 32% of the average $155 price for a similar scoring wine earning a “Great Value” moniker. At $23 the 2001 Byron Vineyards, Santa Maria Valley averages 92 points and is 27% the average price earning it a “Great Value”. At $16 the 2002 Baileyana Winery, Edna Valley Firepeak Vineyard averages 90 points and is 31% the average price earning it a “Great Value”. At the value end of $8, the 2003 Coastal Ridge, California averages 86 and earns a 27% “Great Value” QPR.These four wines and 1,113 more are included in the QPRwines Pinot Noir issue.

Wine Choices for Difficult Food-wine PairingWhat wine will you serve with Christmas dinner? Perplexed? You are not alone.Even for very skilled and experienced wine connoisseurs, pairing wine with holiday meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas can be difficult. That is because there is not just one predominant course or flavor. Your Christmas meal may be poultry, ham, or roast beef based, but many different,  unique side dishes have strong opposing flavors as well. The question of choosing a wine which nicely pairs with your Christmas dinner becomes one of should you pair to match the flavor of the main course, the majority of the dishes, or the strongest, most powerful accompaniment?Unfortunately, there is no one hard and fast answer. On the other hand, this opens up a good opportunity for you to serve more than one wine or experiment with varietals at Christmas dinner.The most popular wine-drinking day in America is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving meals, often the same or similar menu as what is served at Christmas dinner, suffer from the same wine-food pairing dilemma. Even Kevin Zraly, noted wine connoisseur and author of Windows on the World Complete Wine Course (2006, Sterling Publishing CO., NY) has no one simple answer. Zraly recommends serving what he dubs “user-friendly” wines. “User-friendly” wines are good quality, inexpensive wines that pair well with a wide range of flavors.So what “user-friendly” wines should you serve at Christmas dinner?