Tag Archives: Pinot Noir

A Well-priced Oregon Pinot Noir

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“If you’re looking for a good new world Pinot Noir
for under $20, give this one a try.”

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As my preferences in red wine continue to evolve, I find myself more and more gravitating towards silky middleweight Pinot Noir and Gamay. I do still love my big Rhones, Zins and Bordeaux, but some of the best reds I’ve had in the last 25 years have been cru Beaujolais, and Pinot Noir from a variety of regions around the world.

This particular specimen is not a “great” wine, but it’s a good one, especially for the money, and it’s in a style I favor. I first tried it a few months ago, then again about three weeks ago, and now, as I write this. I’ve liked it well enough that I keep buying more at Plum Market, and shall continue to do so. Continue reading →

Oregon QPR

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“These are both good enough that I wouldn’t mind paying
a little more for each if I had to…”

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It has occurred to me more than once that most of the wines reviewed in this blog over the past year have been from Europe, especially France and Italy. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, it’s a simple matter of availability, and second, my primary focus is on QPR selections that fall into the $10-20 range. These days, it’s getting harder and harder to find good values in domestic wines, but that’s not to say they can’t still be had.

Not long ago, an old friend and colleague of ours who now resides in Oregon sent my wife Kim some bottles of his favorite everyday drinkers from his adopted state. He purchased said wines online at Total Wine, and I picked them up at our nearby Sterling Heights location. I got a taste of some of them, and two in particular stood out for me, one white and one red. Continue reading →

Old Vine Pinot Noir

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“Get it while it lasts, because it probably won’t be around for long.”

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So, I found another good Pinot Noir at our friendly neighborhood Costco last week. (Remember, you don’t need a membership to buy alcohol there.) I had been eyeing it for a few weeks, and although I knew next to nothing about the producer, I figured it was worth buying and trying. This turns out to be a good choice more often than not, as was the case on this occasion.

Hyland Estates is located in Oregon’s McMinnville AVA, with roughly 185 acres of vineyards. The first vines were planted in 1971, and have expanded to include Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Chardonnay, Müller Thurgau and Pinot Noir clones that include Wädenswil, Pommard, Dijon 115 and Coury. There is more background information here for those inclined to explore more thoroughly, but for our purposes, let’s focus on the wine itself.
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Bargain Burgundy

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“People who only know the fruit-forward California-styled Pinot Noir will probably not like this wine; hell, they might not even recognize it as being Pinot Noir.”

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Did you know that you can buy alcohol legally in Michigan Costco outlets without a membership? It’s true; Michigan is one of several states in which it is illegal to require a membership for alcohol purchases.

I only mention this because I’m finding good wines in the Detroit-area Costcos we shop in, and reviewing them regularly in this blog. I would hate for someone to miss out on stuff like this next one because they are under the mistaken impression that they need a membership to do so.

While a 1952 Domaine Ponnelle Bonnes-Mares continues to stand out in my memory as one of the two or three best wines I’ve ever had the good fortune to taste in my life, the fact remains that we don’t drink a lot of red Burgundy at our house. The reason for this is simple, really; it tends to be expensive, and we have always gotten better bang for our bucks elsewhere. This is a shame, because the really good stuff is, well, really, really good! 

When we do go in for these oldest and most marvelous expressions of Pinot Noir, it’s usually from one of the lesser villages or even a simple Bourgogne rouge. I’d been eying this, Jean-Claude Boisset’s entry lever red, in the bins of our friendly neighborhood Costco for a while, and last week I finally decided to give it a go. In retrospect, I should have picked one up the first time I saw it, because it’s quite enjoyable.
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Two from Siduri

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“…the Plum Market price makes this a very good buy for anyone
who enjoys well made, fruit-forward California Pinot Noir.”

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After twice posting impressions of Pinot Noirs from lesser-known regions in the last two weeks, I thought it might be fun to give some equal time to versions from an area better known for producing this variety, and these two from Santa Barbara County are as good a place to start as any.

Siduri, named for the Babalonian goddess of wine, was founded in 1994 by Adam Lee and Diana Novy. They would go on to specialize in making highly-acclaimed Pinot Noir from as far south as Santa Barbara County in California all the way north to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. We enjoyed a number of these wines back in our Gang of Pour days, so we were a little concerned when Jackson Family Wines acquired Siduri in 2015, but Lee has remained involved, and Siduri Pinots have maintained a high standard.

We tried the 2018 Santa Barbara Pinot well over a year ago, and liked it well enough to buy a few for the cellar. Based on that, the 2020 vintage was an easy choice, and from our viewpoint, a good one.
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A Tasty Michigan Pinot Noir

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“The fruit may have come from the Leelanau Peninsula,
but the winemaking is pure Jim Lester.”

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We haven’t seen our old buddy, winemaker Jim Lester, since before the pandemic. We were big advocates for his Wyncroft wines back in the Gang of Pour years; they demonstrated that world class wines can and are being made in Michigan, in this case, from his estate vineyards in the southwestern corner of the state, in the Lake Michigan Shore appellation. His reds, in particular, showed a depth and intensity rarely, if ever, produced in the mitten previously.

Wyncroft’s 2nd label, Marland (meaning “land near the lake” in Old English), was inaugurated in 2013, sourcing grapes from other LMS vineyards, and grown to Jim’s specifications, with the intent of providing high quality Michigan wines that don’t require cellaring and can be enjoyed every day. We’ve had several of these over the years, and all have been impressive, but this is the first one we’ve tried in quite a while. I found this at Plum Market, and was particularly interested because the grapes were sourced in the Leelanau Peninsula, rather than LMS.
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