So today being Bastille Day I wanted to do something to honor the storming of the Parisian fortress that was a major turning point in the French revolution in 1790. I had planned to crack open a bottle of French wine, but when I was going through my wine, I grabbed a bottle of Pinot Noir, a delicious Burgundian grape. But in a weird twist (ok, it really wasn't that weird) the bottle I grabbed was from Monterey County in California. Maybe call it ironic?

The Irony 2006 Monterey Pinot Noir may not be from France but it definitely is working to help celebrate the holiday. After sticking it in the fridge for about 20 minutes to bring its temperature down a bit, it took a few minutes to open and when it did, its cherry and raspberry nose was ready to go. This lighter wine is bright, silky and has a long finish with some cherry and chocolate notes. There's a bit of tannin on the tongue, but when paired with some non-smoked gouda on a buttery cracker, it softened up and everything worked really well together.

My partner is grilling homemade turkey burgers mixed with bacon, spinach, onions—and at this point, some sort of surprise. I tried to get it out of him for the purpose of this post, but he wouldn't give it up. Sometimes chefs can be finicky that way. But back to the wine.

I wasn't really too familiar with Irony until I got a couple of bottles a few weeks ago, and I'm really glad they showed up. The winery was started by brothers Chris and Jay Indelicato, whose grandfather planted vineyards back in 1924. The guys grew up working harvest, but their lives took them in a different direction when they got older, until they came back together to launch Irony. This Pinot was sourced from three different vineyards in Monterey: Arroyo Seco, San Lucas and San Bernabe. The grapes went through primary and then malolactic fermentation before being bottled in oak to age for eight months; the wine was then blended to create this vintage.

Check out the Irony website to find out where you can pick up their wine in your area. The suggested retail price is around $16 and, when compared with some French Pinots, it's a steal. This wine can hold its own against some Burgundian wines I've had. I'm looking forward to seeing how it pairs with this turkey burger surprise.

Vive La France!

[Update: the "surprise" was brie baked into the turkey burger. How do you like that? A little French surprise inside my dinner. And the wine was awesome.]