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.
• Ricardo Santos El Malbec 2019 ($20, sample, 13.5%): Interesting approach to Argentine malbec — some oak, some spice, much less fruity and made to age, more in the style of Bordeaux. Imported by Global Vineyard Importers
• Textbook Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 ($30, sample, 13.3%): This, I suppose, is what passes for entry-level Napa cabernet these days. Professionally made, hitting all the notes it’s supposed to hit (rich, dark berries, some oak, some spice, leaning toward fruit over acid and tannins), and made with quality grapes. But a value? Only if you really like Napa cabernet.
• Satellite Sauvignon Blanc 2020 ($13, purchased, 13$): New Zealand white is the second label from highly-regarded Spy Valley, and it sits about halfway between that and all those supermarket “Bay” sauvignon blancs. That means less overtly grapefruit, but still citrusy, but a little softer and more tropical in the middle. Imported by Broadbent Wines
The Wine Curmudgeon’s holiday wine gift guide 2021 — which, of course, includes things that aren’t wine
Do a Google search for wine gifts, and they tend to repeat each other — as if one gift guide borrowed from another gift guide which borrowed from another gift guide. Consider this waterproof Bluetooth glass holder so you can listen to tunes and drink wine while in the shower. It showed up in so many gift roundups that it’s sold out.
Which, of course, we don’t do here. Hence, the blog’s 2021 holiday wine gift guide, which includes things that aren’t wine. And, as always, keep the blog’s wine gift buying guidelines in mind:
• Steven Spurrier: A Life in Wine ($45): Spurrier, who died this year, could have been the most important wine writer in those ancient, pre-Parker days. If he had not held the Judgment of Paris, who knows how long it would have taken California wine to take its place in the world? But Spurrier was much more than a wine writer; he was also an important wine educator and leading wine merchant who owned a wine shop in Paris — hardly something most Britons would do.
• Smith-Madrone’s riesling ($35, sample, 12.9%) is a wine that reminds me just how amazing wine can be. For one thing, California doesn’t do much riesling, and it certainly doesn’t do much well. But this one is a revelation, combining California-style fruitiness with the varietal characteristics that make great riesling so much fun to drink. That means lime zest, a bit of tingliness in the back, a hint of petrol, some sweetness floating around to remind you it’s riesling, just enough acidity to greet the sweetness, and stoniness in the finish.
• Regular visitors know that the Wine Curmudgeon is not much for wine gadgets; he’d rather buy wine. Still, there’s something about this metal foil cutter ($25) that strikes me as worthwhile. Too many bottles still have foil caps and too many of those refuse to come off with a twist. And, frankly, using a waiter’s corkscrew to remove the foil leads to cursing and cut fingers. So why not a foil cutter?
• Laherte Freres Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature ($50, purchased, 12.5%) is an amazing bubbly, everything that Champagne – the sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France – should be, and especially for those of us who prefer a cleaner, more minerally style. One estimate gives it another 20 years in the bottle, and I wouldn’t argue with that at all.
And, finally — shameless plug alert! — give the blog as a gift: One year of the newsletter at 20 percent off, just $56. Click this link to send a gift subscription. Use the email address of the person you’re giving the subscription to where it asks for an email, add a credit card, and they’ll get the $10 Hall of Fame, the Cheap Wine of the Year, and all of the rest — plus the rants and analysis that have made the blog what it is.
Balleto’s chardonnay is a reminder that California can make make some of the best wine the world
Yes, the Wine Curmudgeon knows that $25 isn’t considered expensive in today’s premiumized, gold-played, crappy wine costs $18 world. But the Balletto chardonnay is worth every penny of that $25, and probably quite a bit more.
This is a stellar and precise California chardonnay, in which each part of the wine contributes to the whole, and where the idea of balance is all. So if you’re looking for a tub of Land o’ Lakes, look elsewhere.
Instead, the green apple and soft lime fruit aren’t overwhelmed by the oak, which sits in the background and does exactly what oak is supposed to do – support the wine and not be its reason for being. The 2017 has remained fresh and lively – something I expect from Chablis and unoaked chardonnay, but not necessarily from California oaked chardonnay at this price.
Highly recommended. The wine would complement a Thanksgiving turkey or almost any other holiday meal that isn’t red meat. And it would make a fine gift, as well.
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
• 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
Does this taste funky, earthy, or much like traditional European cabernet? Nope – because it’s not supposed to. It’s supposed to taste like what it is, which is competent, professionally-made California cabernet sauvignon with all the requisite characteristics.
That means lots of ripe, red fruit (sweet cherries?), soft-ish tannins (but tannins nonetheless), a hint of some kind of oak, a smidge of acidity, and just enough structure to hold the whole thing together. It’s certainly not smoooth, and it is definitely dry – it is cabernet, after all.
This wine needs food, be it red meat at an end of the season barbecue or spaghetti and meatballs.
Rickshaw’s sauvignon blanc shows it’s still possible to find quality California wine that offers value at a price we can all afford
Once upon a time, in a wine world far different from ours, sauvignon blanc was made in a variety of styles. French winemakers took a couple of approaches – one in Bordeaux and one in the Loire. New Zealand wines, new to the market, featured what would become its trademark grapefruit style.
In California, the same grape produced a decidedly different wine, with less minerality than France and hardly any grapefruit. The wines were aromatic, with lemongrass and what we used to call “freshly mowed lawn,” and the fruit was more lemon than anything else.
Today, though you can still find some of the French style if you’re willing to pay for it, it’s almost impossible to find the California style. Most producers, and especially at the blog’s prices, make New Zealand-style sauvignon blanc and leave it at that (unless they sweeten the wine up).
Which is why I was so excited to find this previous vintage of the Rickshaw ($12, purchased, 13.5%) at a Dallas retailer.
This is classic California sauvignon blanc, and if it’s a little short in the back, chalk it up to age. The 2020 bottle in the link shouldn’t have that problem. This is a delicious, well-made, and fairly priced white wine. It has those California cut grass aromas, as well as some stoniness and citrus fruit that is more lemon than grapefruit. And it’s very fresh, despite its age.
Highly recommended, and I say this even though Rickshaw wines have always been kind of geeky, aimed more at restaurants than at retailers (and its more expensive label mate, Banshee, is even geekier). And yes, I know the brand has been sold to a burgeoning Big Wine company; so far, though, so good.
Chill this wine, bring it out for fall barbecues or spaghetti and clam sauce, and be glad someone in California is thinking about quality at this price.
by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On
