Enlarge your Pinot dollar – Pinot under $20 – new world or old world?
The whole concept of Pinot under $20 is enough to make some Burghounds shudder. But it is a topic of recurring interest to everyone at the Dr. Vino World Headquarters with its high concentration of frugal pinotphiles.
I recently had the $19 Nicolas Potel 2006 Bourgogne rouge and found it a great value, lean, old world pinot. In previous vintages, I’ve enjoyed value Pinots from Austria (e.g. Stadlmann) and Italy’s alto Alto Adige region (e.g. Hofstatter) as well. And I’ve had some good new world Pinot under $20, such as the “H” Pinot Noir from Hamacher in Oregon. (search for these wines)
What about you? Have your say in our latest poll!
[poll id=”5″]
Jun
9
2009
On June 9th, 2009 at 8:21 pm ,Michael wrote:
That is pretty tough. All-in-all, as a big Pinot fan (and big Burg fan) I tend to lean old-world, but it is pretty rare that I find good Pinot under 20 bucks, but sometimes I do, and then it tends to be pretty evenly divided. As we speak I am drinking an ’06 Ponzi Tavola Pinot Noir from the Willamette, picked up for the very reasonable price of 14.99. It is pretty good, with characteristics similar to an entry level bourgogne from a good house, though with a bit more new world styled sweetness. Very nice for the price, and moreover just plain nice.
The one caveat for me is that the less expensive Pinot needs to be chilled a bit more than more expensive expressions of the grape. I think cellar temp is good, but I slight chill from the fridge works good for me too.
On June 9th, 2009 at 11:36 pm ,Dtu wrote:
That’s tough has there is a bit more good Pinot under 20 from old world, but a huge abundance of insipid bad old world as well.
However, the best (my favorite) $20 Pinot comes from Cali. Calera Central Coast at $19.99. I can drink and buy this by the boatload.
On June 10th, 2009 at 8:11 am ,Nwsidewino wrote:
Try the 2007 Stephen Ross Central Coast Pinot Noir for right around $20 depending on where you live in the country! Performs above it’s price point and made by a small family owned 500 case winery.
On June 10th, 2009 at 10:03 am ,MrTaz wrote:
Classy headline Doc!
I have to vote for both. I’ve found moderately priced pinot’s I enjoy from France by searching between the cracks and following recommendations (Clos du Tue-Boeuf Cheverny and Domaine Billard Bourgogne are both excellent values), Cali (Wyatt and Byron have been consistently good) and even So. America (Jelu from Argentina). They’re all different styles, but all enjoayable and under $20.
On June 10th, 2009 at 12:08 pm ,Uncorked in Dallas wrote:
…Voted “tough call” as, with all respect to the Old World, the value line from Cono Sur (Chile) is hard to beat…Grown sustainably (an Organic model is available) on their estates & drinks superbly.
On June 10th, 2009 at 3:22 pm ,Andrew wrote:
I haven’t had very much domestic Pinot under $20 that was great. I’ve had quite a few from Germany, Alsace, weird parts of France, and basic Burgundy that was good.
I also had quite a bit of great stuff at a good price in the Okanagan in Canada.
On June 10th, 2009 at 8:06 pm ,Dave wrote:
I’ve recently tried Pali which now has a few choices under $20. Alphabets and Huntington are out favorites. For the money its a no brainer. Their more expensive selection are even better but for the $ you will be hard pressed to find a better pinot.
On June 10th, 2009 at 9:06 pm ,Andrew wrote:
I’ve had a ton of great pinots from Burgundy for under $20
On June 10th, 2009 at 9:15 pm ,Susan wrote:
My husband and I are big fans of Pinot but have found it difficult to find anything worth repeating under $20 until we started trying PALI too. They have 2 or 3 Pinot priced right at $20. I recommend trying Huntington
On June 11th, 2009 at 1:27 am ,Charlie Olken wrote:
Sounds like a Pali love-in. When I tasted the new Pali Pinots, the Huntington was still priced at $40, and it showed perfectly well. I was surprised when the winery sent out a press release advising that the price had dropped to $19. At that price, it is a bargain.
Other wines that showed up as bargains in my tastings were:
–Kenwood 2007 Russian River Valley, an amazing wine that tastes like Russian River Pinot. At $18, it outpoints its many of its AVA peers at twice the price. OK, its not Kosta Browne or Williams Selyem.
Carmel Road Monterey bottling at $17 is another wine with lots of quality for the money.
And if you are not familiar with the $12 Pinots of Castle Rock, and you are looking for priceworthy versions of the grape, try either the 2007 Sonoma County or the 2007 Mendocino County.
On June 11th, 2009 at 4:57 pm ,Maratenes wrote:
I love Pinot, I prefer Burg, but there are some very good cali PN. Check out Tolosa PN San Louis Obisbo. Beautiful fruit forward Cali style. On of the better sub $20 PN I have tried recently.
On June 11th, 2009 at 8:26 pm ,Anthony wrote:
I think the problem with New World Pinot Noir (especially from Oz) is that the top half dozen under $20 are not exported.
On June 12th, 2009 at 12:41 am ,mike wrote:
Why would anyone vote that Pinot under $20 has as much appeal as the dump bucket (19.0%, 39 Votes)? It seems to me people like to be ripped off. Name one other product where people would scoff at getting a deal. And if anyone out there thinks that decent Pinot Noir cannot be made for $20 they know nothing about winemaking and are willing to eat into marketing B.S.
On June 12th, 2009 at 1:23 am ,Ned Hoey wrote:
This cost me $10. 2007 Antugnac Pinot Noir. Not a Burgundy but produced by a Burgundian producer in southern France. Better than many CA pinots costing 3+ times that.
The notion that it can’t be done or done consistently is not truthful.
It’s marketing propaganda.
On June 14th, 2009 at 1:19 pm ,Bill Burge wrote:
I third/fourth the Pali wines and am the biggest fan of the Bluffs.
On June 14th, 2009 at 2:11 pm ,Norm wrote:
Does anyone know where I can get some Pinot’s online and inexpensive wine for that matter?
Thanks,
Norm
On June 15th, 2009 at 4:13 pm ,Frank wrote:
Check out http://www.finewinediscounters.com. I’ve purchased a lot of wine from them and they provide excellent server!
-Frank
On June 22nd, 2009 at 6:51 pm ,Alex wrote:
Fleur Central Coast PN and Rock Point Oregon PN are both very tasty new world style and can be found around $15-17.
On July 27th, 2009 at 7:42 pm ,DW wrote:
Looks like the issue here is availability.
If you all or yawl (depending on where yawl from) could get access to Oregon the way Virginia does then this discussion would most definitely be about which $40 Willamette Valley Pinot made you “poop your pants” or whose $90 Willamette Valley Pinot is worthy of a future orgy. Its almost as if the less you’ve heard about an Oregon Winery then the better they taste…Why…because “IF†they taste “THAT†“GOOD†“THEN†“WHY†“WOULD†“THEY†“TELL†“YOUâ€!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On December 7th, 2009 at 10:44 pm ,Jack wrote:
Frank,
Thanks for the referral of Fine Wine Discounters. Great selection of wine at very reasonable prices!!!
Jack