Beringer Pinot Noir & Eating Local

WINE
Beringer Founder's Estate 2005 Pinot Noir (California)
It's hard to find a reliably good affordable California Pinot. This Beringer tastes like the skin of a red apple, with a nose of roses and blackberries. It's smoky, with some decent tannins. A House/Yes wine (definitely a House for Francesca). Price unknown, probably under $12.

[Update: As previously mentioned, if we find a wine rated elsewhere, we will note those ratings – but only after we write our reviews. This was recommended by Smart Money in their August 2007 issue. We don't know what vintage or grape source - a critical issue with Beringer's Pinots.]

DINNER
Most of us can’t very well eat completely “locally,” as the authors of Plenty (the 100-Mile Diet) did. (And although it’s a great book and a wonderful message, one must remember that it was obviously written by two journalists with a “concept” for a book in mind.) But we really enjoy eating as local as we can. Last night we had corn from the farmer’s market, picked that morning from a field about 8 miles away – amazingly sweet and tender. We accompanied it with a Shaggy Mane Mushroom Alfredo (the Shaggy Manes were from our pasture), spiced with home-grown basil. Yes, the Alfredo noodles were commercial. The wine was a Columbia Crest Riesling (don’t know how far from our Washington home it was grown and produced, but still within the same state). Chocolate-chip cookies from a local bakery (and we really don’t care where they got their ingredients – at least they were “home made” and not from a package at the grocery store). At the farmer’s market we also picked up local tomatoes, peaches, and lettuce mix – all from no more than 20 miles away. For us, it’s certainly about health – for ourselves and for the planet, but it’s also supporting local producers and simply a way to eat the freshest foods imaginable. The sad part is that even a simple meal such as this would be totally unavailable, impracticable, and downright impossible for 90 percent or more Americans - ain’t no wild Shaggy Mane mushrooms growing in New York City.