2008 Hellfire White Wine

A friend brought this bottle back for us after an Oregon vacation. It was put away and forgotten about until last night. I was making a corn chowder with crabmeat. I had gotten a great deal on the crab so I had bought extra. I decided to harvest the last of my jalapenos from my garden and stuff them. The soup was simmering, the cornbread (my stuffing base) was baking and the dipping sauce was made and chilling which left me with 20 minutes. I went to check to see what kinds of whites were available in our cellar.
I decided it was time to open this bottle of 2008 Hellfire, a white wine blend from Columbia Gorge. It had mild floral aromas of honeysuckle and jasmine with freshly sliced pear and a bit of slate. It was crisply refreshing, I knew it was going to work well with my spicy stuffed jalapenos. Flavor-wise, it had more of the pear with granny smith apples and hints of honey. It had a very dry, medium length finish.
It is a blend of pinot gris, chardonnay, gewurztraminer, riesling and sauvignon blanc and sells on-line for $15.00 a bottle. I wish I had tried it earlier in the summer, I would have ordered some more. It would make a great patio sipper as well as being a good pairing for some of our lighter summer meals.

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