Tag Archives: pinot noir

Thanksgiving wine 2023

Cartoon of turkey with wine glassFour Thanksgiving wine 2023 suggestions

The WC’s favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I get to cook and share wine and food with the people I care about. How can that not be terrific?

So enjoy the holiday, and especially these Thanksgiving wine 2023 suggestions. The blog’s guidelines for holiday wine buying are here.

La Fiera Pinot Grigio 2021 ($11, purchased, 12%): This Italian white is about as consistent as this kind of wine gets (though it’s more Kirkland in style this vintage). But its still well made, with a hint of lemon peel and very clean and dry. Imported by Winesellers Ltd.

Althea Prosecco NV ($15, purchased, 11%): $15 Prosecco for people who like Prosecco — so a touch sweet, terrific fizzy bubbles, and a bit of lemon fruit. Very professional. Imported by La Cigale Wines

Domaine Laroque Pinot Noir 2021 ($12, purchased, 12.5%): Simple, almost rustic French pinot noir that mostly tastes like pinot noir. Some dark red fruit, a bit more tannin than it should have, a surprisingly pinot noir aroma, and, overall, probably greater than the sum of its parts. Imported by Aquitane Wine USA

Zestos Old Vine Rosado 2022 ($12, purchased, 12.5%): All of the Zestos Spanish wines are worth buying, and in large quantities. This vintage of the rose is more in the Provencal style, with barely ripe berry fruit and some minerality. Imported by Ole & Obrigado

More about Thanksgiving wine:
Thanksgiving wine 2022
Thanksgiving wine 2021
Thanksgiving wine 2020
Wine of the week: Santa Julia Malbec Organica 2022
Expensive wine 167: Ameztoi Hondarrabi Zuri 2021

Wine of the week: Quintay Clava Coastal Reserve Pinot Noir 2022

Quintay Clava Coastal Reserve Pinot Noir bottle
Quintay Clava Coastal Reserve Pinot Noir 2022/$12-$17

Chilean pinot noir stands on its own — and tastes like pinot noir

I once wrote a trade piece about trends in pinot noir, and quoted a supermarket-style winemaker who said quality pinot could be made pretty much anywhere in the world, and by blending pretty much any grape with the required 75 percent of pinot noir.

Which explains why pinot noir that costs less than $40 so rarely tastes like pinot noir anymore, but more like a red blend – and sometimes sweet. (That so much pinot that costs more than $40 is also lacking is a post for another day.)

Which is also why I was so pleased to taste the Quintay Clava Coastal Reserve Pinot Noir 2022 ($15, sample, 13%). It’s Chilean pinot noir that tastes like pinot noir, with the understanding that the Chilean style is not the same as the French. And that this is pinot and not a sweet red blend stripped of acidity and tannins.

As my tasting notes ask: “Who knew anyone did this sort of wine any more?”

The Clava differs from France’s red Burgundy in that it tastes fresher and isn’t funky – none of that forest floor or mushroom stuff that pinot lovers geek out about. Instead, it has berry fruit (raspberries?), soft tannins, and just enough acidity. It is simple, but it’s not stupid by any means.

All in all, and even including the price, it’s very well done and highly recommended. Pair this with fall red meats, as well as roast chicken.

Imported by Global Vineyard Importers

Thanksgiving wine 2022

turkey holding a wine glassFour Thanksgiving wine 2022 suggestions

How about another Shakespeare quote this year? Or, more exactly, not quite a Shakespeare quote? “Gnarly, dude.” Because, after the past couple of years, it’s time for a good laugh.

So enjoy the holiday, and especially these Thanksgiving wine 2022 suggestions. The blog’s guidelines for holiday wine buying are here.

McManis Pinot Noir 2020 ($12, sample, 13,5%): Lots of nits to pick with this California red — too much oak, it doesn’t need all that vanilla, and the acidity seems a bit out of whack. Having said that that, this is about as close to legitimate pinot noir from California at this price as you’re going to find. It’s fruity (berries and cherry), but not overblown, and the tannins are soft. It is wine, and not smoooth.

Anne Amie Pinot Gris 2021 ($20, purchased, 13.9%): Would that all wine at this price was this well made and this true to its variety and terroir. This Oregon white has lots of lime, but is also balanced — a bit of mineral and some zippy acidity. Highly recommended from one of the WC’s favorite producers.

Veuve du Vernay Brut NV ($9, purchased, 11%): There are, apparently, warehouses and warehouses jammed with inexpensive French sparkling wine, made with methode Champenoise for $10 or so and that are well worth drinking. This is one of them, soft but more than just fizzy, with some lemon and apple fruit and a longish finish. Imported by Patriarche USA

Les Maitres Vignerons de la Vidaubanaise Le Provencal Rose 2021 ($15, purchased, 13%): Well-made and spot on Provencal rose, so there is garrigue, barely ripe berry fruit, and oh so stony. If you can find it for $13, buy a couple of bottles. Imported by Michael Corso Selections

More about Thanksgiving wine:
Thanksgiving wine 2021
Thanksgiving wine 2020
Thanksgiving wine 2019
Wine of the week: Cantina Cellaro Luma 2019
Wine review: Patricia Green Dollar Bills Only Pinot Noir 2020

Wine review: Patricia Green Dollar Bills Only Pinot Noir 2020

Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir "Dollar Bills Only" bottle
Patricia Green Cellars Dollar Bills Only Pinot Noir 2020/$17-$20

Bring on the smoke taint paranoia – even when there isn’t any smoke taint

Smoke taint is one of the least understood phenomena in the wine business. Little research was done previous to the West Coast fires of the past several years, and the most important work was done in Australia. Which, given how different Australia’s terroir is from the rest of the world, might mean those results don’t necessarily apply elsewhere.

Nevertheless, certain American wine consumers know all – like the Patricia Green Dollar Bills Only Pinot Noir 2020 ($19, purchased, 12.9%) is tainted to the hilt.

Sigh. Would these people do their own plumbing or electricity the way they pass judgment on wine?

First, Patricia Green is a top producer, and it’s accusing the winery of a great malfeasance to say it’s selling smoke-tainted wine. Second, the wine tasted as it should to me, as well as to the others I tasted it with. And I like to think I’ve picked up a few things in more than two decades of tasting wine professionally.

The wine didn’t taste of smoke. It tasted like Patricia Green pinot noir. That is, a stunning Oregon pinot noir from a top producer that is heads and shoulders above almost everything else at that price. It’s berryish and sort of herbal and funky, while the tannins do exactly what they should in a pinot noir.

So why all the hoopla? Two reasons, I think. First, it costs less than $20, and we all know that great pinor noir has to cost much more than that. Second, it’s not big, it’s not sweet, it’s not smooth, and it’s not dark and rich. Which, as we all know, is what point noir is supposed to taste like these days.

So nuts to the wine geeks. Highly recommended, and just the thing for the holidays.

Ask the WC 31: Pinot noir, minimum pricing, wine apocalypse

wine advice
“Mmmmm. … tannat. .,. yummmm.”

This edition of Ask the WC: When is pinot noir not pinot noir? Plus what’s minimum pricing and whether the wine apocalypse is coming

Because the customers always have questions, and the Wine Curmudgeon has answers in this irregular feature. You can Ask the Wine Curmudgeon a wine-related question by clicking here.

Hey, WC:
I liked the McManis pinot noir review, but some of it didn’t make sense. How can a wine be called pinot noir if there are other grapes in it?
Confused about pinot

Dear Pinot:
A varietal wine — a wine that has the name of the grape of the label — doesn’t have to be made only with that grape. Federal law allows varietal wine to have as much as 25 percent of something else, and most pinot noir that costs less than $30 often has 25 percent of something else. I wrote a trade story about this a decade ago, when inexpensive pinot became popular. One winemaker told me that his company used tannat, grenache, syrah, zinfandel, petite sirah, refosco, and dornfelder in pinot noir. The goal was to make the wine darker in color and fruitier, since traditional pinot is neither. So, when I write — as I did in the McManis review — that most inexpensive pinot tastes like a red blend, that’s because it was made to taste that way.

Oh Curmudgeonly One:
What’s this minimum pricing I keep hearing about, where the government sets alcohol prices? That doesn’t sound very free enterprise. We don’t do it in the U.S., do we?
Free markets rule

Dear Markets:
Yes, we have minimum pricing in the U.S. Most notably, it’s in Connecticut and Michigan; the state decides the minimum a retailer can charge, though it may exist in other forms elsewhere given the tangle that is U.S. liquor regulation. The rationale is that if liquor costs too little, we’ll buy too much and all be drunk — the infamous “public health and safety” standard that allows states to regulate alcohol in their own way. So no, no free market in the U.S. in booze.

Dear Wine Curmudgeon:
I’m getting a little tired of you talking about the wine apocalypse all the time, and how wine is going away. It’s a $100 billion business. isn’t it? How can that disappear?
Irritated and annoyed

Dear Irritated:
Wine sales in the U.S. are about $70 billion annually, so yes, not going away tomorrow. But that’s hardly good news. Wine sales have been flat for years (and may actually have decreased, depending on who did the study), per capita consumption has decreased, and younger people aren’t interested in wine. Hence the concern among those of us who love wine but refuse to be blinded by the industry’s obsession with prices and scores. And do you think I like writing about this stuff? Hardly. But someone has to do it.

Photo: Joey Nicotra on Unsplash

More Ask the WC:
Ask the WC 30: BYOB, wine for friends, California fires
Ask the WC 29: Birthday gifts, larger bottles, and on-line
Ask the WC 28: Wine Curmudgeon ethics, sweet red wine, and wine spending

Wine of the week: McManis Pinot Noir 2019

McMaanis pinot noir
McMaanis Pinot Noir 2019/$8-$15

Yes, there is inexpensive pinot noir that tastes like pinot noir

When I first starting writing about wine, I fell madly in love with pinot noir. It wasn’t as big or overwhelming as cabernet sauvignon or as fruity as merlot; it was restrained and interesting. And it didn’t cost a million dollars, either. Remember this wine?

So why, today, are there so few pinot noir reviews on the blog?

Because pinot noir and I broke up. I refuse to pay what have become ridiculous, car payment prices for a bottle, and I will not drink pinot noir that is pinot in name only. Which seems to be the case for too may of the wines that cost less than $50 a bottle.

So thank you, McManis, for your version of the wine ($12, purchased, 13.5%).

Frankly, it’s a stunning effort that comes about as close to tasting like classic pinot noir as pinot as this price can. That means just ripe berry fruit that’s not sweet, and it means it’s not over overdone with fake oak. Subtle, even. There’s even some savoriness and — how can this be for a Lodi wine? — earth. Highly recommended.

One caveat: The 2018 wasn’t nearly this well made – more in the style of “it says pinot on the label, but it’s mostly sweet fruit that doesn’t taste like pinot.” So, once again – and even for cheap wine – vintages can matter.

 

 

Mini-reviews 150: Nielson, Donnata, Old Soul, Scheurebe

roses
“What, no rose in the mini-reviews this month?”

Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the fourth Friday of each month. This month, three wines to take your chances with, plus one of the geekiest bottles in blog history.

Nielson Chardonnay 2019 ($15, sample, 14.1%): California white answers the question of whether liquid oak is a thing. Yes, it is.

Alessandro di Camporeale Donnata 2019 ($17, sample, 13.5%): Generic Italian red that could be made from any grape or from any region — some cherry fruit, some acidity, and soft tannins. Call it one more focus group wine to be sold to Americans. Imported by Panebianco

Old Soul Pinot Noir 2018 ($18, sample, 14%): Hot and syrupy Lodi pinot noir, for people who prefer that style.

Müller-Catoir Scheurebe 2018 ($15, sample, 12.5%): German white is about as wine geeky as it gets. Scheurebe is a cross between riesling and an obscure German grape, so it’s funky on the nose and almost medicinal — very green herb-y, with a minimum of apple fruit. Imported by Skurnik Winess

Photo: “Boyfriend and girlfriend drinking wine closeup. Pink colors for Valentine day” by shixart1985 is licensed under CC BY 2.0