Wine review: Patricia Green Dollar Bills Only Pinot Noir 2020

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.