Pinot Noir

Producer: Foris Vineyards Winery Wine: Pinot Noir, Rogue Valley 2005 Vintage: 2005 Country: USA Appellation: Rogue Valley Wine Type: Red Varietal: Pinot Noir Grade: B+ Designation: Excellent Value Price: $15 Purchase: FinestWine.com The Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon doesn’t get the attention that the Willamette Valley garners. But spotlights and hype don’t necessarily help make wine. The Rog

In honor of the 14th Wine Blogging Wednesday, I am reviewing a “New New World” Pinot Noir. My goal was to find something cheap and exotic. I hit the nail on the head with the cheap part (hopefully the cheapest, at $6.49), but Lindemans is far from exotic. After searching several wine stores in this area, this [...]

It was difficult to make a bad Pinot in California in 2002, a standout vintage year with supple, juicy, and harmonious wines abounding everywhere, in particular on the Sonoma Coast. Guess what you get from a winery like Williams-Selyem, one of California’s elite standard bearers for handcrafted Pinot Noir? If you guessed a great [...]

Your idea of enlightenment? A hot-off-the-press tabloid and a great glass of wine. This year step it up a notch with the International Pinot Noir Celebration (July 25-27), hailed by The Wine Advocate as "unquestionably the finest in the world," is a must attend event. The camp, for wine lovers, is a hedonistic three days of seminars, tastings, tours and one-of-a-kind meals with sixty internationa

Producer: Brancott Vineyards Wine: South Island Pinor Noir Vintage: 2006 Country: New Zealand Appellation: South Island Wine Type: Red Varietal: Pinot Noir Grade: B Designation: Cheap and Good Price: $10 Purchase: FinestWine.com New Zealand is not the first country that comes to mind when thinking of Pinot Noir. First is France followed closely by California and Oregon. But this finicky and high m

The aromas are characteristic of the cool Central coast vineyards that yielded the majority of the grapes for this wine. Red berry perfume with a touch of cinnamon spice, wrapped in a blanket of subtle French oak. Breathe it in. This is one of Pinot Noir’s great pleasures. The taste is pure Pinot, too. Mouth-filling [...]

Basic Details Wine Name 2000 Panther Creek Pinot Noir Date Purchased 10/18/2007 Price 20.99 Winery Name Panther Creek Cellars Appellation Willamette Valley Varietal Pinot Noir Vintage 2000 Alcohol Content 13.5% Region Oregon Country United States Sight Wine’s Color Red Brown Depth of Color Deep Clarity of Color Crystal Viscosity

Waltzing Bear Winery is an artisan winery where owner and winemaker Brad Lowman focuses on producing small lots of ultra premium wines.The Waltzing Bear 2003 Rancho Ontiveros Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir is made from the first fruit of a new block planted and grown by James Ontiveros in the southern end of Santa Maria Valley, near Bien Nacido Vineyard. Only 74 cases made.The wine has a

Visiting Selland's Market earlier this week, to bring home some of their fabulous carnitas for dinner, I could not resist taking a look at their wines and of course "accidentally" one of them ended up coming home with me...Tonight it was time to try the "errant bottle", a Bohan-Dillon 2006 Hirsch Vineyards Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. Made by Hirsch Vineyards from 97% estate fruit for the cost of $29.99 (at Selland's), compared to the Hirsch Vineyards 2006 Sonoma Coast for $55 (made from the same fruit), I hoped for it to be a high quality wine for a bargain price.It has a clear ruby red color in the glass.The nose displays cherry, raspberry, red currant, tobacco leaves, tea, and vanilla notes.The palate showcasing light plum, cherry, sweet tobacco, and heat from the alcohol (14.6%), backed u

Producer: Greg Norman Estates Wine: Sparkling Vintage: NV Appellation: Southeast Australia Country: Australia Wine Type: Sparkling Varietal: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Grade: A- Designation: Good and Cheap Price: $13 Point One: Trying to find a impressively high quality/price ratio sparkling wine is like finding a needle in a haystack, well, maybe not that difficult but you get the point. I figure the right man for [...]

Producer: Capiaux Wine: “Swink” Pinot Noir Rose Vintage: 2003 Country: USA Appellation: California Wine Type: Rose Primary Varietal: Pinot Noir Grade: B+ Designation: Good and Cheap Price: $12 Drink Swink? Well, you should, cuz it’s delish! Now, don’t second-guess yourself with this Pinot. Put it in the fridge! What? Yes. Put it in the fridge. Trust me. After chilling, pour a glass, observe. Ruby. Smell. [...]

Strolling through Winecask Wine Store in Santa Barbara we saw a bottle of the Stone Corral Vineyard 2005 Edna Valley Pinot Noir produced by Talley Vineyards. We have enjoyed several vintages of their Rincon Vineyard and Rosemary Vineyard Pinot Noir, and having heard about the newer Stone Corral Vineyard, but never tasted it, we just had to give it a try. At $55 a bottle we saved it for enjoyment with a Saturday night dinner.This wine has a clear, dark garnet color in the glass.The nose shows floral notes, raspberry, and subtle round oak.The palate displaying raspberry, restrained cherry, spice and notes of green tea. The fruit persistant and showing throughout the whole palate. Relatively high acidity and tight tannins with a “green” finish.We really liked this complex, still refined p

Quando resolvi degustar e comentar sobre esses dois pinots do Novo Mundo sabia que tinha uma tarefa árdua pela frente. Sim, principalmente se a avaliação a que me refiro for positiva. O problema todo está enraizado num velho preconceito. Pinot Noir de qualidade é na Borgonha, o resto é história! Ao me deliciar com esses dois vinhos [...]

Last night we opened and old favorite of a new vintage, the Walter Hansel 2005 South Slope Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. The apperance in the glass; a light, clear, garnet red color.The nose showing raspberry, red cherry, slight hint of strawberry, herbal tea, and touch of basil at the end.The palate tasting of fresh raspberry, cherry, earth, and pencil shavings at the very finish. This pinot has great acidity and young but relatively soft tannins.A beautiful elegant style Pinot Noir with bright red fruit and good structure. We really enjoyed it , as we have earlier vintages of this wine, and at $ 33.99 I dare to say that it is good value for the buck at this level of quality.Find it at Wine-Searcher.com from $33.99.Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top

Saturday evening was a busy one in my wine world. Not only was it the last Saturday of February and therefore this year’s Open That Bottle Night - the ninth annual - but it was also the night my friend Vindu brought me a case of Juice Crew Red. Vindu wasn’t due to arrive until much [...]

We went to check out the newly opened Total Wine and More (an all beverage super maket) in Roseville last Sunday, and after spending more than 40 minutes walking through the seemingly endless ailes of wine and other alcoholic beverages, we left with three bottles of wine.We opened the first one, the Pessagno 2005 Lucia Highlands Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands, Pinot Noir, a couple of nights ago for a glass of wine before dinner. It showed a dark garnet color in the glass. The nose had red ripe berries and fruit with massive cherry, red currant, light strawberry, and dried herbs/grass. On the palate the cherry dominated, with blueberry and ripe currant backing it up with some smokey and grassy notes. This wine has a round mouthfeel with a spicy, hot quality to the finish. Good acidity and

The Marshall Family Wines 2006 Barry's Blend California Pinot Noir is made from grapes from Russian River Valley and Mendocino, and was aged in French oak prior to bottling.The color in the glass is dark ruby red and slightly cloudy. The nose shows dusty berries of cherry and raspberry, earth, and floral notes. On the palate medium to full bodied, with a meaty quality, cherry, dark raspberry, earthiness, and spice. Good acidity and young, green tannins on the relatively long finish. This Pinot Noir can be found at Wine-Searcher.com from $19.95 or at the winery's website for $25. This pinot has a slightly different style than I prefer. The more fruit forward tend to be my favorites but this was certainly not a bad bottle at all. For $20 I would say it's a good value, although I would most l

Last night we opened a bottle with dinner that I had very high expectations of. I have had several vintages of the Pisoni Vineyards and Winery Estate Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir before, and they have always been great. I assumed and hoped that the 2004 wouldn't let me down either.The color in the glass is a vivid deep garnet. The nose exudes black cherry, dark raspberry, notes of blackberry, sweet violet, and a touch of tobacco (?).On the palate big, broad fruit and berries with ripe cherry, dark raspberry, vanilla, an earthy touch, and slight tart fruit at the finish. The acidity is plentiful and the tannins integrated with a young edge to them. This wine has a great backbone and complexity, and I wish I had another bottle to open up in a year or two to see how it develops.As you und

We ordered half a case of the August West 2005 Rosella's Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir after a restaurant visit this summer and having a bottle with dinner. We are now down to our last bottle and I thought I better review it before it is all gone!It has a beautiful dark, clear, ruby red color in the glass. The lush nose reveals raspberry, ripe cherry, sweet vanilla, and notes of herbs. The palate follows with black raspberry, cherry and spice. The fruit carries nicely all the way through the long finish, with a hint of red liquorice at the very end. The acidity is sufficient, and the tannins are well integrated and matches the ripe fruit nicely. Medium to full bodied, this wine is sure to not disappoint. We have not been as you can see, with only one out of six bottles remaining, although I planned to cellar a few... Oh well, very enjoyable right now.Find it at WineZap.com from $45.Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top!

Hahn Estates is located inland from Monterey on a hillside looking down to the Salinas Valley. It's beautiful country that produces some very nice wines. We found ourselves at the winery late in the day recently and enjoyed the great view with a few of their wines.Hahn Estates 2005 Pinot Noir: This Central Coast winery believes so strongly in its pinot noir that it has ripped out 400 acres of cabernet sauvignon to expand its pinot plantings. This is a lush pinot noir with nice deep cherry notes. A great value for a California red.Hahn Estates 2005 Chardonnay: A hint of peach in the nose, with a nice citrus and apricot flavor profile.Smith & Hook 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon: Named for the ranches that make up the vineyard, this red has good tannins and dark purple fruit flavors.

This is Pahlmeyer's second label Jayson's first vintage of Pinot Noir. They also made a first vintage of Pinot Noir that is to be released in October this year under the Pahlmeyer label.The Jayson Wayfarer Vineyard Sonoma Coast 2005 Pinot Noir has a dark, ruby red color in the glass and is slightly cloudy. On the nose it shows cherry, dark raspberry, blackberry and notes of fresh cut hay. This Pinot is huge on the palate with ripe dark raspberry, notes of cherry, tobacco and coffee. Big and chewy, this medium to full bodied Pinot has good acidity and rather big tannins, with a slightly elegant note to them. 14.9% alcohol. This was a pricey Pinot Noir at $64.95 per bottle. Loving their Proprietary Red I just had to try their Pinot to see if it had the same high quality. I would definitely not hesitate to have this wine again but I would definitely put it away for a couple of years as it is very young at this point and will drink even better in the years to come with the big fruit give

We picked up a new Pinot Noir today at Selland's Market while getting some of their unbelievable carnitas to bring home for dinner. Selland's has a small but extremely well chosen selection of wine, thanks to Josh, and there is always a new small production winery among all the other options every time you go there. Today's choice for us was the A.P. Vin 2004 Clos Pepe Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir. Having had wine from several producers from this vineyard before I was expecting a wine that I would enjoy. This wine was aged in French oak for 11 months and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Only 50 cases made. In the glass a dense, slightly cloudy, dark garnet color. The nose promise me great things to come with black raspberry, blackberry, some floral, thyme, and wet stone. I take my first sip and can't help but smile. This is gooood..... Dark berries dominate the palate again with some dark cherry and light notes of earthiness. The oak is there but does not stand out, just

The Sonoma Coast Vineyards 2004 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is composed of grapes from seven vineyards, Abbott, Baranoff, Clay, Koos, Leepin, Nunes and Zephyr Vineyards. It spent 20 months in oak barrels, 50% being new French Oak.This was my first time having a wine from this winery and it was thanks to my husband who brought it home after finding it at BevMo and thought it looked like it was worth a try. BevMo's price was $54 for this bottle and the only other place I can find it online to purchase is at the winery's website for $60.On to the actual tasting. A big, dark ruby red color greats me in the glass just before discovering dark cherry, dark raspberry, blueberry and an earthy quality with some grass/herb nuances, on the nose. I am very excited at this point can't wait to take a sip. Again the black cherry is there with some involvement of red cherry as well. Dark berries makes an impact as well with some oak notes at the end. The acidity is definitley there in the right amounts

Yeah... Tonight we popped open a bottle of Pinot Noir from one of my favorite wineries in Santa Ynez Valley, Foxen. I only purchased 2 bottles to start with and the first one we consumed back in December of 2004, and we were semi impressed and decided that it seemed like it would improve with age. Tonight it was time for bottle number 2, and what an improvement it was!The Foxen 2002 Sea Smoke Vineyard Blocks Q & U - Clones 667 & 115 Pinot Noir was aged in 70% new French Oak for 16 months prior to bottling, unfined and unfiltered. 230 cases made.It has a beautiful dark red/purple color in the glass. On the nose a complex array of amazing red and black cherry with blackberry, raspberry, and a touch of tobacco hits you. Taking your first whiff and then tasting it the wine express red cherry, dark raspberry and nice touch of spice on the palate. The acidity is plentiful and the tannins are soft with that nice edge to it to make sure you notice it's presence. For being aged in 70% new

The grapes for this wine comes from Lafond Vineyard and Arita Hills Vineyard, located in Santa Rita Hills. It was aged in French and Hungarian oak, 18% new oak. The dark ruby red color with a hint of purple, has a touch of cloudiness in the glass. It expresses a meaty, toasty nose with red cherry and raspberry. On the palate the red cherry returns with black raspberry, cranberry, and a hint of oak. This wine is a little bit thin on the palate, and is made in a slightly elegant style, with decent acidity and medium firm tannins. The finish is medium long with fruit and berries, and the lingering impact of the tannins.Considering the price this is a pretty ok bottle, but nothing outstanding. I paid $19 at sale at my local grocery store. You can find it at Wine-Searcher.com from $15.99, and the winery sells it at its web site for $22. Worth a try but do not expect anything extra ordinary.Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog TopI am now in top 11!

After having the Capiaux 2005 Chimera Pinot Noir a while back I had to try the "one step up" pinot noir from them as well. They have several of the these and I picked the Garys' Vineyard having had many pinots , from other wineries, from this appellation before and always enjoying them.This wine shows a slightly cloudy, dark ruby red/purple color in the glass. Aromas of dark and red cherry, raspberry, perfumy floral, and smoke, hits you on the nose. Tasting it, black currant, red cherries, and smokey oak, shows up. This is a medium to full-bodied wine with supple acidity and relatively smooth tannins with a long beautiful, complex, finish.This is a really good pinot that I hope to enjoy many more times in the future. It is a great pinot if you do not like some of the "fruit bomb pinots" that are being made out there. It is very well balanced with great structure. Give it a try!I bought this at a local wine store for $55. You can find it for as low as $40 at Vinfolio.com. I know it is

Tonight we are having a wine loving guest over and I opened the Sea Smoke Cellars 2004 Botella Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir. This is an absolute favorite since a couple of years back. Very hard to get a hold of unless you are willing to pay twice the price of original "retail price".I was lucky to get a hold of a couple of bottles at $55 at a local wine shop when it was first released.This wine displays a clear ruby red/purple color in the glass. The first thing that greets you on the nose is black cherries that opens way for the black berry, lingon berry and subtle oak.Sipping this beauty you discover that there is more fruit/berries on the nose than on the palate, although it displays wonderful black cherry and black currant with a spicy note. It is well balanced with firm tannins and good acidity that provides a nice back bone. Full bodied with a long savory finish. Over all a great Pinot Noir that will last quite a few more years in the bottle! This was my last bottle and I wish I h

When we were in Santa Barbara last weekend we picked up a bottle of Rusack 2005 Reserve Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir. After having the 2005 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir not to long ago (and really enjoyed it) we were very excited about this one-step-up bottle.The Reserve Sta. Rita Hills is a 50/50 blend of grapes from Fiddlestix Vineyard and Rancho Santa Rosa. 445 cases produced.It has a great bright, dark red, color in the glass. On the nose I got dark fruit with a sweet touch of oak with caramel at the end. Swirling it in the mouth, black berries and medium dark cherries emerges with enough acidity to give it some structure and kind of firm, but still smooth tannins (what do you call that kind?). Overall it has medium to dark fruit/berries, showcased in a more elegant style. This felt like a very food friendly wine. We really thought this was a very good wine for not to bad of a price ($35.99).Find it at Wine-Searcher.com from $29.99 or atRusack's website for $38.Vote for my blog

Friday night we had another great Pinot Noir from La Vie Vineyards . I have reviewed the 2004 Rasta Rita Pinot Noir earlier. You can read more about it here.The 2003 Black Mountain Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir has a dark ruby red/purple color in the glass. The black cherry on the nose overpowers everything else but a hint of sea sand. The black cherry gives room for some ripe black berry on the palate, although the black cherry is still the most prominent taste. A hint of oak, and good acidity that mingles with round tannins. This is a beautiful, lush, Pinot Noir with good back bone and long finish. La Vie Vineyards "Rasta Rita" (referred to above) is a little bit more of a powerhouse Pinot, but this is not to far behind. A beautiful Pinot Noir!Hard to get a hold of, I found this bottle for $36.99 at a small grocery store in Los Olivos, Santa Ynez Valley. I have done some research at Internet and I can not find any store or web site that carries it, and the winery is also

I just love Foxen Vineyard from Santa Ynez Valley. They truly make some outstanding wines and tonight I had the 2004 Julia's Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir. I have reviewed the 2003 earlier. Read more about it here.The 2004 has a bright, medium dark, ruby red color in the glass and shows incredible dark cherries and dark berries on the nose. On the palate, again, that intense dark cherry comes through, with a hint of red licorice, and little else being able to shine trough. Despite of that, it's rich, broad, intense and complex. Medium high acidity and smooth tannins gives this full-bodied wine good balance (tipping toward the ripe cherries). Long fruit driven finish. Still a tad young though. Lay it down for a couple of years and I think that the ripe fruit will mellow out and give this wine even better balance.This wine is shipped from the winery to members only. Only 300 cases produced. Looking for it online the only bottle I could find was a magnum (1.5 liters) for $109 a

The philosophy of Robert Sinskey Vineyards is "Farm conscientiously and make wine with minimal manipulation...". The tail starts in 1982, and it's to long of a story to tell here... Read more about it here!The 2005 Los Carneros Napa Valley Pinot Noir was a recent gift from friends. I knew I should keep my hands off of it but I could not resist it and tonight it got popped open. Intense ruby red color in the glass with great clarity. At first, earth and spice on the nose with the yeast smell of rising bread at the end. Letting it sit for a little bit, soft red cherries and berries emerges with herbaceous notes. Tart red cherries and raspberry on the palate with pencil lead on the finish. Good acidity and medium firm tannins. A really good bottle at this point, and letting it age for a couple of years I would expect it to improve...Find it at Wine-Searcher.com or Winezap.com from $31.98.Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog TopI am now in top 15!

Hint: It’s not where you might think… Next weekend is all about Pinot Noir (ok, and probably a little green beer) for Bay Area residents. If you can look to your left or right and see the Santa Cruz Mountains, you’ll be in the right place. Here’s the scoop on what’s happening: Saturday March 17: Pathway to Pinot Paradise Participating SCM wineries will be pouring Pinot barrel samples and maybe even library wines. (For example, at Thomas Fogarty, we’ll be pulling from the cellar the much-talked-about ‘97, ‘01 magnum, and three small block-designated Pinot Noirs from the Rapley Trail Vineyard). All that wine and unbelievable views to boot. Gas up the car (yeah, that’ll hurt) and grab a map. Tickets–$25 Sunday March 18: Grand Cruz Tasting 2pm-5pm at Villa Ragusa in Campbell…where over 30 SCM wineries will pour their favorite Pinot and local restaurants & gourmet shops will provide tasty treats. Tickets–$65 (B

I haven’t tasted this stuff so I can’t pass judgment, but I am truely interested if there is a market for it. Are people are so Pinot crazed that they will want to integrate our beloved grape into the soda pop portion of their diets? The company that markets the product, Vignette, is located in Berkeley and they claim the Pinot Soda is made with around 50% real juice (no word on what the other 50% is), has no added sugar or corn syrup, is caffine free, and is “gently pasteurized”. I’m not quite sure what “gently pasteurized” means myself. If you aren’t holding a juice at 161 degrees F for ~6 seconds, you can’t be sure that you’re really killing all the bacteria present, which is the whole point of pasteurization. And holding anything at high temperatures isn’t something I would think really qualifies as gentle. But hey, who are we in the wine industry to start casting stones when it comes to marketing anyway? If you&rs

Hoy comienza un nuevo periodo para Chile, asumió la nueva presidenta Michelle Bachelet (Nº 38 de Chile), la verdad que hoy le pusieron la banda presidencial en el salón plenario del congreso nacional donde estaban 980 invitados la ceremonia fue presidida por el senador Frei (que no esta demás decir que es muy fome para presidir algo), entre los cuales se encontraban Evo Morales (Presidente de Bolivia), Alejandro Toledo (Presidente del Perú), Hugo Chávez (Presidente de Venezuela), Tabaré Vasquez (Presidente de Uruguay), Nestor Kischner (Presidente Argentina), Luis Ignacio Lula Da Silva (Presidente de Brasil), Condoleezza Rice (Secretaria de Estado de USA), entre muchos otros... pero las actividades que comenzaron el día de ayer y se extenderán hasta mañana 12/3 cuando culminen con la fiesta de la ciudadanía (17 Hrs Casa de Moneda) también tienen invitados importantes entre los cuales podemos encontrar a Lucibell (Chile) Julieta Venegas (México), Gilberto Gil (Brasil), Saiko

Last night I had the pleasure of sharing some good wine with a group of friends. One of the bottles we had was from the consistently good quality winery, Siduri. I have through the years enjoyed several great pinot noirs from various appellation from them. Yesterdays wine was not at all bad but a little bit of a disappointment. It was the fairly young 2004 Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir. Santa Rita Hills on the central coast has been up and coming for the last couple of years and are now one of the most popular appellation in the area. This specific pinot is 73% from Clos Pepe vineyard and 27% from Cargasacchi vineyard.Looking at the wine it had light ruby color and was very cloudy. On the nose you had spicy pepper and dark berries. Pepper, dark cherries + berries and medium tannins on the palate.What turned me of a little from the start was the heavy cloudiness. Tasting, it did not have the best balance between fruit and tannins and was a little heavy on the pepper. It might improve over

Lincourt Vineyards Tasting RoomReading the latest issue of Food and Wine on our way down to Santa Barbara on Thursday I spotted the Lincourt Santa Barbara County 2005 Pinot Noir as one of top four star selections out of 27 bottles in the article, Best American Pinot Noir. We have enjoyed Lincourt Pinot Noir many times before and since passing the winery on the way through Santa Ynez Valley we decided to drop by, do a tasting and pick up some bottles. Said and done, we walked out of there with a full case of the 2005 Pinot Noir. A great wine for $25 perfect for week night dinners, or bringing over to a friends house.The 2005 is made from grapes from Santa Rita Hills Vineyards. This is a medium bodied Pinot with bright red cherries on the nose, and some blueberries and hints of oak. It has flavors of red berries with some spice and earth notes. The wine is rich and fruity but not a power house. It is more toward the elegant style. Find it at http://www.wine-searcher.com/ for as low as $