Pinot Noir

Perhaps the top bottling from this storied winery.  Ruby in color, purple at the core, mostly clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, pomegranate, and a slight earthiness.  Full bodied.  On the palate, sour cherries, some cranberries, root beer, and the slightest milk chocolate note at the top of the long finish.  Complex and tightly layered, it unwinds quickly in the glass.  This is drinking close to peak it seems but should drink well for another ten years or so.  Nice on its own, this would be better with food.  Roasted Duck would be an obvious choice.  

Tasted from Magnum.  Although this is not vintage Champagne, I am told this is all 2017 vintage grapes.  The Brut Nature indicates this had zero dosage.  It is 100% Pinot Noir and went thru 100% Malolactic fermentation.  A very interesting and very good wine.  Golden in color with a slight copper hue.  Quite a bit of very tiny bubbles.  The nose has seltzer, melon, chalk and slight lemon.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this has a bit of sweetness to it which is likely just from ripe fruit (no easy task in 2017).  There is an herbal note along with melon and plenty of minerality.  This has a

This is made from grapes grown near the Lake Erie shore in northeastern Ohio.  It is cooler climate in style.  Of course, Pinot Noir is difficult to make anywhere, and this one is not only varietally correct, it is good.  Ruby in color with a few daker swirls, clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, rhubarb, slight herbal note, and a bit of spice.  Medium bodied.

Rhys makes some of the best Pinot Noir's in California.  This is bigger in fruit but with a Burgundy styling.  Garnet in color, clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, slight black cherries, spice and just a hint of pine.  Medium bodied.  Light tannins.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Cherries and some black cherries with an underlying char and forest floor.  Great balance.  Long finish.  This is still drinking youthfully.  It should continue to so do for another ten to fifteen years.  Nice on its own, this works well with poultry or  meats, but would be nice with Salmon as well.  

This is made from grapes grown on the west coast and shipped to Ohio.  Ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose has rhubarb, cherries and slight spice notes.  Medium bodied.  Light tannins.  On the palate, the rhubarb and cherry notes come thru along with a slight milk chocolate note.  Moderate finish.  This is a lighter style of Pinot Noir that works better with food than on its own.  Drink over the next three to five years.  

Goldeneye has been making wine in the Anderson Valley for 30 years. This current release is comprised of 63% Pinot Noir and 37% Chardonnay. There is a lovely softness to the carbonation and viscosity of the wine itself. Pleasant notes of fresh, baked bread, golden delicious apple, apricot jam, blood orange and a slight honeydew melon fill the palate. Unlike many sparklers, this doesn’t lean towards sour apple, nor sweet, it straddles a middle ground of pleasant, soft notes, making this a delightful sipping wine with enough acidity for food.

The “better for you“ wine segment is a fast growing category including lower calorie, zero sugar, “all natural” and so forth. But the bottom line of these or any wine is, does it taste good? Because if it doesn’t taste good, lower sugar and fewer calories maybe a mute point. Happily this Pinot Noir from Chile is a terrific wine, and very good quality. There less overt acidity from the get-go, however, there is still nice raspberry strawberry, huckleberry, and boysenberry notes.

Good Pinot Noir is hard to find. A good Pinot at a good price is even harder. But Decoy’s latest hits the right notes. Black cherry, boysenberry, wild strawberry, black berry and a hint of green tea leaf, this offers mild tannins and acidity and is a pretty comprehensive Pinot for just $25. The grapes were harvested from six different counties in California, and it was aged one year in new French oak barrels, 35% of which were new. The result is a well crafted Pinot Noir that won’t break the bank, but will give you a quality wine that is food-friendly and enjoyable.

This was accidently added to a tasting of Loire Cabernet Franc.  It is of course, Pinot Noir.  Certainly not a fair way to sample the wine as it was only after the wines were unveiled that the mistake was identified.  A couple people did say it was Pinot like which is very impressive.  Still, here is the tasting note.

Cuvaison is best known for their Chardonnay and Pinot Noir but in 2012 they launched a sparkling program. Comprised of mainly Pinot Noir and 35% Chardonnay, this brut was made in the traditional Champagne method. Using Pinot Dijon clone 115 planted in 1998, winemaker Steve Rogstad says these 25-year-old vines bring a “precocious beauty” to the wine, and I have to agree. This is a delicate wine with minimal sweetness, using the grace of the Pinot and the acidity and light salinity of the Chardonnay to make a very balanced, almost shy wine.