Archive for the 'Pinot Noir' Category

Silver Burgundy: Affordable Burgundy Wines

Yay!  It’s my favorite day of the month: Wine Blogging Wednesday.  The host this month is Neil at Brooklyn Guy’s Food and Wine Blog and he has named the theme “Silver” Burgundy.  The Burgundy wine that most people think of comes from the Gold Coast (Côte d’Or) and tends to be rather pricey.  If you don’t [...]

A Quest for Good Cheap Pinot Noir - The Summary

I was almost ready to write up this summary on my Quest for a Good, Cheap Pinot Noir when I noticed that more recent vintages of my top two picks were on the shelves.  To be relevant to those shopping now, I had to pick them up to ensure they are worthy of top picks.  [...]

Castle Rock Sonoma County Pinot Noir

In a recent issue of Wine Spectator they were reviewing Californian pinot noir and listed Castle Rock Sonoma County 2006 as one of their best values.  Given that it is only $15, I thought I would be remiss if I didn’t try it as a part of my quest for good, cheap pinot noir.
Castle Rock produced pinot noir from [...]

Mezzacorona Pinot Noir

Continuing my quest for a good, cheap Pinot Noir I picked up a bottle of Italian pinot.  Mezzacorona Pinot Noir comes from the Tretino region of Italy.  It’s a simple Pinot Noir that I found rather boring.
There is nothing bad about this wine other than a lack of complexity and underwhelming characteristics.  The nose is [...]

Three Thieves Pinot Noir: Cute Jug… That’s About It

I would like to tell you that my quest for a good, cheap pinot noir is going great.  I’d like to tell you that I’ve found so many tasty yet inexpensive pinots that you have the world to choose from.  But if I told you these things, I’d be a liar. 
I knew it would be [...]

Woodbridge Pinot Noir: Mediocrity Exemplified

A constant internal debate I have with wine choices on this site is whether to pick wines that are distributed widely enough that just about any reader can find them or just focus on those hidden gems that you should scoop up if you’re lucky enough to come across them.  Ultimately I try to do [...]

Mark West Pinot Noir - Join the Revolution!

Get out your Che Guevara t-shirt, it’s time for a revolution.  Pinot for the People is the latest slogan from Mark West Winery, a company that is focused on creating good, cheap Pinot Noir.  I love this concept and I love this wine.
Cool Marketing
You may have noticed that I occasionally reference the marketing behind the [...]

Rosemount Estate Pinot Noir 2004

The next bottle in my quest for a good, cheap Pinot Noir comes from down under.  The Rosemount Estate ”Diamond Label” Pinot Noir 2004.  For some reason I wasn’t expecting much from this one, but I was pleasantly surprised.  I’m not sure why I was suspect of this bottle, but I guess it was the packaging—which is a [...]

Meridian Central Coast Pinot Noir

Another bottle consumed as I continue searching for the best inexpensive Pinot Noir.  Today it’s a bottle from Meridian Vineyards.  The grapes for Meridian’s Pinot Noir come from Monterey County in the Central Coast region of California, where the cool air from Monterey Bay extends the growing season—typically about two weeks. 
This Pinot Noir was aged in [...]

Little Penguin Pinot Noir - Waddle On…

My Quest for Good Cheap Pinot Noir continues with a cheapy from South Eastern Australia produced by the Little Penguin.  This Penguin has a nice fruity center, but a little bit of funk at both ends.  <pause for a visual>
OK… should I explain that, or let your imagination do the work?  I’ll explain.
The Good
the Little [...]