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 wines I taste. Well… I do more than drink wine, I’m a marketing guy. And as such, I pay particular attention to how wine producers market their products. I have to say that in the case of Mark West, I like the product and the creative. (I know some of you non-marketing folks think I just made a typo, but I didn’t. In the marketing world we call the end result of what you see “creative.” It’s a noun in my world.)
I like the marketing that I’ve seen for Mark West, but that’s not to say I don’t have some critique of it. The whole Pinot for the People revolution-esque marketing campaign is fun and interesting, but only appears to be on their website. The theme isn’t carried out in their packaging. The packaging is very neutral, safe and more dignified than the website. Perhaps they don’t want to scare people in store with a label that’s too kitchzy.
My other complaint is that their website seems incomplete. Too much stuff isn’t working. There’s no link on the logo to get you back to the Home Page. There are several items listed under “propaganda” (bottle shots, logos, etc.) that just aren’t linked up. It’s close, but they need to spend a few days tightening things up.
Who Is Mark West?
There doesn’t seem to be a real dude named Mark West that has anything to do with this wine. Alex Cose and Derek Benham run the show there. These are also the guys behind Rock Rabbit Winery and Avalon Winery, all under parent The Purple Wine Company. Who is Mark? It’s not a who, it’s a where.
The Mark West Winery has no vineyard, they purchase grapes from various growers and have released both Californian and French versions of their Pinot Noir, so pay attention to the label to see what you’re getting. I’ve read great reviews of the California 2005, but I can’t find it anywhere in my area (Cincinnati, OH) and it seems the distributor in this region (Wine Trends) isn’t carrying it. The one I’ve been tasting is The Mark West Pinot Noir Vin De Corse 2005 (French).
The Tasting
The Mark West Pinot Noir Vin De Corse 2005 has nice complexity all around, starting with smoky, red raspberry and cherry aromas. The palate is light and fruity with complex berry flavors. A hint of pepper, but not much. It goes down velvety-smooth with an almost creamy mouth feel, but a rather short finish.
The weird thing is that it almost doesn’t taste like a Pinot Noir. It somewhat lacks varietal character, but it’s still good.
I picked this bottle up for $10.99. That’s a bit on the high end of cheap wine, but I’d say it’s worth the price. I gave it an 88.
Wine: Mark West
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Designation: Vin de Corse
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 13.2%
Rating: 88
I love the Mark West California Pinot Noir 2007. It’s an accomplishment to find an affordable Pinot that tastes this good!
I had a bottle of this wine at a restaurant recently and was surprised at how good it was….especially for under $12!
I tasted this wine during a blind tasting party. It was picked as a fovorite. I then ordered a bottle at a Chicago restaraunt. We ended up ordering a second. Thnk you for the suggestion!
Opened a bottle of Mark West Pinot Noir 2008 on Sunday 11/27/11. Resisted urge for a third glass and finished the bottle the next evening, regretting the end of it. It was quite good, better than expected. Went out 11/30/11 and bought two more bottles of 2008 at an excellent $8.99 price each. R Parker had given it a “star”. Very nice wine. Agree on the short finish but it matches great with Land O’ Lakes Extra Sharp Cheddar.
Thanks for the comment, Peter.