This Valentine’s Day, don’t have pinot envy
So what will you be doing for your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day? It’s likely that it will include some wine, food and flowers. Here are a few suggestions for the wine — the rest is up to you.
Can you find a good pinot noir under $20? I put this to the test recently asking some wine shops for their faves. Some clerks recoiled in horror at the prospect of finding a worthwhile pinot noir–the grape praised by Miles in Sideways–for a mere $20. Part of the problem is that since Miles told everyone to have pinot noir producers have rushed to bring more to market even though there was little more to be had. Thus many “pinots” under $20 contain the legal minimum of 75 percent pinot noir and then jack the rest up with syrah or zinfandel trying to make a dark, lush wine not dissimilar to the very merlot that Miles disdained.
So thanks to your generous click-throughs on ads on this site, I deployed my tasting budget gathering 12 bottles of pinot noir under $20 and a few friends. The wines hailed from Burgundy, the grape’s ancestral home, as well as California, Italy, Chile, and Oregon. All were tasted blind, which provided some unusual surprises.
On the whole I would say that the category produces some good rewards but is not without risk. Think of the degree of difficulty as equivalent to the quadruple back flip off a low board. But the reward is a very food friendly wine with great fruit and acidity and little of the tannin that wine newbies find offputting–yet sufficient depth and intrigue to fascinate wine geeks like me. In sum, an excellent date wine. And because of the light price tag, you can deploy the rest of your Valentine’s Day budget elsewhere.
So here they are, in order of preference:
Au Bon Climat, Santa Barbara County, 2005. $18. Find this wine
The hands-down winner. A wonderful, almost Burgundian nose of earth and fruit. On the palate, the wine has cherry notes, cola, a certain pleasant earthiness, and a surprisingly nice level of acidity given its SoCal origin. The finish even has a bit of an arc like a serious pinot. Very food friendly and hugely date friendly.
O’Reillys, pinot noir, Oregon 2005. $19 Find this wine
The Irish are known for their wine. OK, maybe not. But they might be better known for it after giving the O’Reillys pinot a shot. This O’Reilly factor comes from the no-spin-zone of Oregon: a delicate balance of cherry notes and acidity make this a bottle whose contents disappear quickly.
Hofstatter, pinot nero, Alto Adige, 2005. $18. Find this wine
Mentioned previously on this blog, the Hofstatter fared well during this blind tasting. This pinot, light in color, has a sense of place in the bottle. But don’t worry about the Dolomites where it came from: the place for you should be on your dining room table.
Fleur, pinot noir, Carneros, 2005. $15 Find this wine
This pinot is easy drinking. Soft, straight forward pinot noir, it paired great at our tasting with the Jasper Hill cheese called “constant bliss.” With the bouquet of flowers on the label, the wine in your glass, and the cheese on your plate, you’re as close as I can take you to Valentine’s pleasure.
And finally…Roederer Estate, brut rose, for $20+ Find this wine
If you must have a great-tasting pink bubbly this V-Day, you’re going to have to pay a couple of three dollars over our limit. But it is 60% pinot noir! This Roederer Estate is a great way to go. It pairs well with many foods–but not sure how it is in the jacuzzi.
If you have a favorite pinot noir under $20 feel free to post a comment below.
Related: “Biodynamics in Oregon”
Aging pinots
tags: wine recommendations | pinot noir
On February 7th, 2007 at 2:39 pm ,Anonymous wrote:
OK… I saw 5 wines there, where are the other 7???
On February 7th, 2007 at 2:52 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
I could not recommend the other seven bottles. I separated the wheat from the chaff for you.
On February 7th, 2007 at 8:27 pm ,Anonymous wrote:
Two other deep-value pinots that I’ve tried recently and liked:
2004 Kiwi Pinot Noir $10
and
2004 Maison Latour Pinot Noir Vin de Pays des Coteaux du Verdon Domaine de Valmoissine $12
Both very light-bodied, both with correct, spicy noses. The Latour has a better nose, the Kiwi better on the palate. I can enjoy both, which is surprising at that price point!
On February 8th, 2007 at 8:58 am ,Anonymous wrote:
i would suggest Parker Station- second label of Fess Parker- normally around 15-20ish. also- for a nice little blend try the Meditrina from Sokol Blosser- under 20 again
On February 8th, 2007 at 6:29 pm ,Anonymous wrote:
Check out the following article in the Menlo Park/Atherton Almanac
http://www.almanacnews.com/story.php?story_id=3597
On February 9th, 2007 at 6:43 pm ,Anonymous wrote:
I think the Meridian pinot noir at $12 is surprisingly good for the price.
On February 11th, 2007 at 9:06 am ,Anonymous wrote:
Two nice pinot noirs under $20 are the Echelon 2005 from Cali and the Kim Crawford 2005 from New Zealand. They are nice values, good food wines and most importantly taste like pinot.
On November 9th, 2007 at 4:39 pm ,Erin McGrath wrote:
My favorite, favorite Pinot under $20 is POPPY. For a mere $13 (sometimes $11) – it is a smashing alternative to higher-priced Pinots and is quite easy to find (more in wine shops than grocery stores, though.)
On February 26th, 2008 at 3:13 pm ,Stacey wrote:
My current favorite is the 2006 Sipino from Yahmill Valley Vineyards. Strawberry liquorice nose, with good earthiness. Not overoaked.
On February 27th, 2008 at 10:37 pm ,Jonathan wrote:
Castle Rock Pinot from Willamette Valley is a great value at $12. The Castle Rock Mendocino and Monterey are good as well at $11. Wild Horse Pinto Noir goes for just a little over $20 and is excellent.
On March 5th, 2008 at 1:33 pm ,Dr Vino’s wine blog » Blog Archive » More pinot envy - three pinots under $16!! Stadlman, St Michael, Ninth Island wrote:
[…] Miles told everybody to get pinot noir, it’s been hard to find a good value. We’ve taken the plunge before and came up with several good American ones under $20. Now we raise the degree of […]
On April 16th, 2009 at 6:56 pm ,Antique Ring wrote:
I usually do not comment on blog posts but I found this quite interesting, so here goes. Thanks! Regards, P.
On November 8th, 2009 at 9:27 pm ,Michael wrote:
Firesteed and Wine by Joe…both of Oregon…no similarly priced California Pinot can compete!
On November 11th, 2009 at 10:49 pm ,Eric Birenbaum wrote:
Yet another Pinot Noir suggestion in the $20 and under category is Becker’s 2007 Pinot Noir. It is from Germany, yet it says “Pinot Noir” on the label, not spatburgunder. A great bargain.
On July 28th, 2010 at 12:49 pm ,Cassandra wrote:
Just ran across this post and here are a few I’ve enjoyed lately (granted, prices on pinot have come down quite a bit since this was first posted.)
From Oregon: ’09 O’Reilly’s ($17); ’08 Wine by Joe ($19); ’08 Acrobat ($20). From New Zealand: Sherwood ’08 ($16). I bought a couple of cases of the O’Reilly’s, which is the value brand of Owen Roe. It’s been a consistent crowd-pleaser with people who are picky about their wine and people who aren’t.