pinot (noir) and pastrami pairing – dip, nip, sip, repeat!

Pastrami is an iconic meat in American Jewish and New York City cuisines. This meals brings East and West coasts together, pairing a savory pastrami sandwich with Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, OR.

Willamette Valley AVA

Oregon ranks as the third largest wine growing region in the US and the fourth largest producer by volume.

Two-thirds of Oregon’s vineyards and wineries (nearly 700 of them) are located in the Willamette Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA). Willamette Valley AVA is located in the northwest corner of Oregon, between the Coast and Cascade mountain ranges. The AVA has seven sub-AVAs in the northeastern portion of the AVA, as shown in the map. The Van Duzer Corridor (2019), the Tualatin Hills (2020), and the Laurelwood District (2020) only recently received AVA distinction! This means that the local wineries and vineyards have proven these regions possess unique qualities influencing their grapes and wines. These factors might include different microclimates or topography separating them from the surrounding areas. In order for an Oregon producer to list an AVA on their label, at least 85% of the grapes in the wine must be from vineyards within the boundaries of an AVA .

Willamette Valley is world-renown for Pinot Noir wines. Pinot Noir is the predominant grape grown in the AVA given its perfectly suited mild climate. Oregon Pinot Noir tends to be light- to medium-bodied in finish and provides a wide spectrum of aromas. Pinot noir typically exhibits strawberry, raspberry, delicate floral notes, and earthier notes like mushroom and truffle.

There are quite a few different grape varieties grown in Willamette Valley. In addition to Pinot Noir, black grape varieties include Syrah and Gamay. Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Melon, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc are among the white grape varieties grown.

To learn more about the Willamette Valley AVA check out the Willamette Valley Wineries Association, Willamette Wine Board, or Wine Folly (a great educational resource for novice and expert wine lovers).

The Wine(ry)

Archery Summit is located in the Dundee Hills AVA, just outside of the city of Dundee. Like most wineries in the Willamette Valley, Archery Summit specializes in growing and producing beautifully delicious Pinot Noir, as well as several white wines, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. Their focus is producing site-specific wines to highlight the terroir of the vineyards their grapes come from. Currently, Archery Summit has five estate vineyards across the Dundee Hills AVAs, each their unique characteristics and producing, in my humble opinion, exquisite wines. In 2020, Vinepair ranked Archery Summit Pinot Noir second on their ‘25 of the Best Pinot Noirs for 2020‘!

In 2010, when I was in graduate school, I attended an academic economics conference in Portland, Oregon. While there, my friend Amy took a couple of friends and I for a Willamette Valley wine tasting day trip. We had a great time visiting wineries and vineyards, but the stand out for me that day was Archery Summit. The wines were so delicious, that I promised myself I would join their wine club when I finished grad school. I could not wait to enjoy these wines again! Three years later in said ‘first job’, and while dating my husband, I made an off-handed comment to Erich about the Archery Summit wines and wanting to join their wine club. He surprised me with a couple of bottles of beautiful Archery Summit Pinot Noir and a wine club membership! YEAH, HE’S A KEEPER!!

The Wine – Archery Summit Pinot Noir

For this pairing I chose Archery Summit’s 2015 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, which we had received some years back with our wine club. The wine is still relatively young for a Pinot Noir, but it is maturing beautifully! The glass was full of aromas, including black cherry, red raspberry and licorice. On the palate, the wine was well-balanced and still pretty fruity with a blend of cherry, licorice, and dark chocolate flavors.

You can find recent releases of the Archery Summit Dundee Hills Pinot Noir directly from Archery Summit, or go to wine.com and Total Wine & More.

The Meal – French Dip Pastrami Sandwich

To go with the delicious Archery Summit Pinot Noir, I paired a French Dip Pastrami Sandwich from Natasha’s Kitchen. The recipe was very easy to make. I used Boar’s Head pastrami and provolone cheese from the deli counter because of their products are very flavorful. The top round pastrami is coated with spices to infuse the succulent meat. The 44% lower sodium provolone cheese has a subtle nutty sweetness, which I really like. In addition, I used cremini (aka baby bella) mushrooms as opposed to white mushrooms, based on personal preference, although the recipe didn’t really state which type to use. Finally, I used beef bone broth for the au jus again for a richer flavor, to which I added garlic salt and black pepper, as was done with the mushrooms.

The end product was phenomenal! The garlic salt in the mushrooms, the spiced pastrami, and creamy provolone enveloped within the toasted bun was such a wonderful mixture of flavors and textures that work in perfect harmony! Erich immediately voted this meal into our list of regular favorites!!

The Pairing – Pastrami and Pinot Noir

Pairing Pinot Noir with pastrami is a great combination because it combines a lighter-bodied wine with a lean meat. The combination of flavors in the sandwich brought forward the fruity flavors in the glass for a fantastic contrast pairing. The sandwich dipped in a little bit of au jus really highlighted the wine beautifully and brought forward previously imperceptible spices.

Just like we’ll be making this dish again, we’ll definitely revisit this pairing with future vintages of the Dundee Hills Pinot Noir! I’m sure they will be delicious!

Dip, nip, sip, repeat!!

We wanted to enjoy this wine on another occasion, so we used the Coravin to pour out a couple of glasses. The Coravin Wine Preservation System allows you to pierce the cork of a wine bottle and dispense wine while replacing the wine with an inert gas that keeps the wine from spoiling. We poured the wine with the Coravin aerator attachment. It is not necessary to decant or aerate most young, light-bodied red wines ; however, it’s never a bad idea to do so to expose the wine to more oxygen. This brings out more of the aromas and flavors of the wine in the glass. The Pinot Noir we drank was already six years old, so aerating it helped unleash it in the glass a little quicker.

* This post was not sponsored by and is not affiliated with Archery Summit, Boar’s Head, Coravin, Natasha’s Kitchen, Total Wine and More, wine.com, or Wine Folly. All links were provided for informative purposes. We are members of Archery Summit wine club.