Pinot Noir Wine, best values

[The Dad]

Navarro's hard to get for us here in the PNW.

Not any harder than for anyone else who doesn't live in Mendocino. As Lego correctly notes:

Only problem is the don't do stores so you have to go to the winery or go through mail order.

More to the point, join the goddamned club, already. It's the single best value wine club around. Your commitment is ~$100 every six months for about 6 bottles (sometimes 7), in exchange for which you get (a) the enjoyment of drinking those bottles, (b) the members' two-month exclusive purchase period (euphemistically called "pre-release"), and (c) discounts. Currently, a bottle of the standard pinot will set members back $15, and there's not another pinot within shooting distance of that quality and price point.

Topic change: all time favorite Pinot Noir?

My money's where my mouth is. I'm a member of the Kosta Browne club and on the Siduri list. Never had a dud from either. (Kosta Browne's pinot rose, incidentally, also rocks and is a good value at <$20.) I was a charter member of Sea Smoke's club, but they've let prices get out of control, as has Testarossa.

[Tippster]

And the los rocas, often available around here for ~$9

The man knows. Listen to him.

(Las Rocas = our current house wine.)

Alpinedad: Regarding the Navarro Pre-Release program...

How it Works
Twice a year, in June and November, you'll automatically receive a six bottle sampler of soon-to-be-released Navarro wines. The shipments average $90.00 plus sales tax and delivery to a California address. We will bill each shipment to your Visa or MC account, or you may arrange to open an account and pay by check.

That makes me sad.

[Game Over]

My sister recently sent me a bottle of Eyrie Pinot from the Willammette valley. She says it's awesome, I'm saving it for when she visits.
.

at least you spell willamette better than i spell Mckenzee.

i guess the will valley is getting known for thier pino. everyone around me is planting grapes, we are thinking about putting in a few acers.

[Buster Highmen]

More to the point, join the goddamned club, already. It's the single best value wine club around. Your commitment is ~$100 every six months for about 6 bottles (sometimes 7), in exchange for which you get (a) the enjoyment of drinking those bottles, (b) the members' two-month exclusive purchase period (euphemistically called "pre-release"), and (c) discounts. Currently, a bottle of the standard pinot will set members back $15, and there's not another pinot within shooting distance of that quality and price point.


My money's where my mouth is. I'm a member of the Kosta Browne club and on the Siduri list. Never had a dud from either. (Kosta Browne's pinot rose, incidentally, also rocks and is a good value at <$20.) I was a charter member of Sea Smoke's club, but they've let prices get out of control, as has Testarossa.

Clubs? Groucho Marx quotes spring to mind. I'm leery of those clubs having been burned by one years ago with shitty picks.

I'm budgeting to buy a Peay allotment.

Siduri is very good and decent price. I loved Sea Smoke too, but won't buy them or Beaux Freres or Serene anymore.

[Chinaski]

Domaine Drouhin Laurene. This stuff is amazing, and I don't really like most pinot noirs - too wimpy. It will cost you...

You are buying the Drouhin name, so yea, it is spendy.



For Oregon, look to Cameron, J. Christopher, Brick House, and many others that dont irrigate. This saves groundwater and actually produces healthier vines and better fruit, and thus better wine. If you are looking mostly value, buy their entry level releases (non-single vinyard) which are still world class IMO.

I dont drink much cali pinot, too big for me. Be carefule buying "value" Burgundy though. Again IMO, there is no single appellation that you can get burned worse than burgundy; buy based producers you like, not vintage or otherwise.

[Buster Highmen]

You are buying the Drouhin name, so yea, it is spendy.



For Oregon, look to Cameron, J. Christopher, Brick House, and many others that dont irrigate. This saves groundwater and actually produces healthier vines and better fruit, and thus better wine. If you are looking mostly value, buy their entry level releases (non-single vinyard) which are still world class IMO.

Cameron and Brick House are 2 I have. Excellent wine. Clos Electrique...heh....

I dont drink much cali pinot, too big for me. Be carefule buying "value" Burgundy though. Again IMO, there is no single appellation that you can get burned worse than burgundy; buy based producers you like, not vintage or otherwise.

Really?

[Chinaski]

Clos Electrique is as good as it gets for Oregon, the Chardonnay as well. Spendy though, I guess you could still call it a value at $50 a bottle, hard to get though...

Yeah, IMO stick with producers in Burgundy, it is the most reliable way to buy eps. when buying at Burgundy prices.

[Buster Highmen]

Clos Electrique is as good as it gets for Oregon, the Chardonnay as well. Spendy though, I guess you could still call it a value at $50 a bottle, hard to get though...

$50? I have some from 2002 which I got for a lot less. It's light and doesn't age well. I think Willakenzie has really good deals for their single vineyard stuff around $30 and blends for around $25.

Yeah, IMO stick with producers in Burgundy, it is the most reliable way to buy eps. when buying at Burgundy prices.

I learned this the hard way years ago...I've been through a lot of bad red burgundy. But with the 2005 prices, I'm about done with French red burgundy. $50 for a decent premier cru? Virtually no grand cru for less than $100. It's nuts. I'm coveting the few Dujacs, Vogues, Roumiers among others I bought back before 2000.

[irul&ublo]

You can get some pretty decent bourgognes for between 10 and 20. Check out that K&L list I linked to above. Louis Jadot usually is a reliable and widely available negociant wine, and as I recall has some reasonably priced burgundies.

[rideit]

They are nice but I can't mentally pay $15-$20 for a bottle that sells for $3 in Argentina

I hear ya'...the only Pisco that I can find here is $25-$35.00 a bottle, for swill that is $3-$5.00 down south.
Ah, well.

[Buster Highmen]

You can get some pretty decent bourgognes for between 10 and 20. Check out that K&L list I linked to above. Louis Jadot usually is a reliable and widely available negociant wine, and as I recall has some reasonably priced burgundies.

Yup, I've bought a couple old Leroy bourgognes that were great, but really weird. You'd open them and they smell bizarre and taste really tight and thin for about 20 minutes...then they open up into sweet strawberry.

But it's a Leroy, so I think we all agree. As difficult as that is...

[The Dad]

Clubs? Groucho Marx quotes spring to mind. I'm leery of those clubs having been burned by one years ago with shitty picks.

Yeah, that'll happen. I've dropped those.

Navarro, OTOH, has never once let me down. Even if there's a wine I don't really like in the shipment, either it's an <$10 throw-in or at least I respect what they were trying to do with it.

And I didn't even mention that the winter shipment throws in a holiday gift. We still use the nice cutting board they sent one year, and the salt grinder filled with salt smoked over oak from chardonnay barrels was really neat too.

[Tye 1on]

Thread drift:
Cheapest likky store in JH?
I have a TLS discount card, which makes it reasonable...The other stores are all over the map!
What is your local?
The Coach is the worst, IMO.
No bro-deal at all...

My wine budget goes either to the Smith's store or Sidewinders, actually. They do a i think 15% discount for locals, and since the owner likes good wines and Greg the manager worked at Dornan's previously, they have a great selection. The drive-thru store at the Cabin consistently has the hottest cashiers tho [sorry advres!] and does 10 or 15% off for locals as well...

Thanks Tippster, i'm checkin the store for that merlot tonight!

[Buster Highmen]

Another negotiant, Dominique Laurent makes good wine with some reasonably priced. Fred Magnien makes great wine, some reasonably priced. You can still get Roumier Bussiere for about $55, which is a great premier cru, but for me it's tough to buy when it used to be more like $30.

(edit, compile, link, debug, edit, compile, link, debug, edit, compile, link, debug...)

[4matic]

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noirs are like left-handed pitchers: There are never enough to go around. Despite its raging popularity -- sales are up 19.9 percent over the last year, according to the Nielsen Co. -- Pinot Noir is perhaps the hardest varietal to buy for $10.

"With Pinot Noir," says Jeff Porter, beverage buyer for Andronico's, "you need to finesse the vineyards. You need to spend time there and that increases the cost."

Real Food wine buyer Jonathan Hood said he found the Morande Pinot Noir only by "tasting lots and lots and lots of bad wine. I've made so many sauces and sangrias out of bad wine."

Two wine buyers couldn't suggest a single Pinot in their stores at $10 or under -- the only category anyone skipped.

Of the four I'm recommending, only one is made by a winery from its own grapevines, and that winery is in Chile. The Mark West and Schellhardt are both assembled from purchased grapes, and the Wine Group -- which previously used Santa Barbara County fruit in for its Pinot Evil line -- went all the way to Corsica to buy fruit cheap enough to hit this price point.

2005 Mark West California Pinot Noir ($10) Mark West owner Derek Benham sold Blackstone Winery, which he founded with no vineyards and no winery in 1994, to Constellation Brands in 2001 for $140 million. So it's ironic that Mark West's marketing slogan is the Marxist-sounding "Pinot for the People." Yet it's appropriate, as this wine makes the true taste of Pinot Noir available at a price the proletariat can afford. It tastes of cranberry and toast with a little soy sauce and some earthiness in the aroma; it's food-friendly and simple and kept going up in my estimation the more I sipped it. It's made by winemaker Alex Cose from an odd mix of 85 percent Pinot with 13 percent Syrah and 2 percent Chardonnay. Available at Weimax Wines & Spirits.

2006 Morande Casablanca Valley Pinot Noir ($9) Winemaker Pablo Morande founded this winery in 1996 and set out to influence the way grapes are grown in Chile, particularly by increasing the number of vines planted in an area to make them fight for water, thus hopefully increasing the concentration of the fruit. The result in this wine is a nice raspberry flavor with some toast in the aroma and a soft mouthfeel. You'd never guess that it's 14 percent alcohol; maybe that's the magic of vine density. Available at Real Food.

NV Pinot Evil Vin de Pays de l'Ile de Beaute Pinot Noir ($5) San Francisco's the Wine Group initially made $15 wines from Santa Barbara County under the Pinot Evil label. Now the company has switched its source to Corsica, the French "isle of beauty" in the name, where Pinot Noir grapes (as well as labor) are much cheaper. This is a light-bodied wine with pleasant cherry and red plum flavors and notes of earth, pine and Christmas spices. For this price, it's amazingly good. Available at Cost Plus World Market.

2005 Schellhardt California Pinot Noir ($10) Dry Creek Vineyard winemaker Bill Knuttel had enough good Pinot Noir grapes left over from his various projects, both for DCV and for his own label (Knuttel Winery), to blend 500 cases worth of this wine. The aromas hint of red fruit -- raspberry and cherry -- but on the palate it's a melange of cherry, blackberry, violet and dark chocolate. Available at Blackwell's Wines & Spirits.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...IG83QO2ED1.DTL

[Below Zero]

2005 Mark West California Pinot Noir ($10) Mark West owner Derek Benham sold Blackstone Winery, which he founded with no vineyards and no winery in 1994, to Constellation Brands in 2001 for $140 million. So it's ironic that Mark West's marketing slogan is the Marxist-sounding "Pinot for the People." Yet it's appropriate, as this wine makes the true taste of Pinot Noir available at a price the proletariat can afford. It tastes of cranberry and toast with a little soy sauce and some earthiness in the aroma; it's food-friendly and simple and kept going up in my estimation the more I sipped it. It's made by winemaker Alex Cose from an odd mix of 85 percent Pinot with 13 percent Syrah and 2 percent Chardonnay. Available at Weimax Wines & Spirits.

For about $10, I think that Mark West Pinot Noir is a good value choice.

That's right bitch! What do I win?

[LegoSkier]

On a related note. Anybode ever try Marcassin pinot (or Chardonnay for that matter)? Is it really that much better?

[SquawMan]

On a related note. Anybode ever try Marcassin pinot (or Chardonnay for that matter)? Is it really that much better?

yes, yes it is


btw, you people missed the best pinot tasting last weekend in SF - PinotDays

here's a good list of the favorites w/ prices

http://www.vinography.com/archives/2...t_noir_ta.html

[Buster Highmen]

On a related note. Anybode ever try Marcassin pinot (or Chardonnay for that matter)? Is it really that much better?

I've had their ridiculously expensive pinot. I didn't think it was all that.

[AKbruin]

Around $10: Castle Rock does an amazing job of buying $$$ pinot grapes around the Russian River for $ during good years.

$10-20: The stuff coming out of Chalone is consistently good. Erath ain't bad.

$20-$50: Argyle Nuthouse 2003 (I think) is amazing stuff. I tasted it in a large group of Oregonian "premium" pinots (Archery Summit, Drouhin, etc.) and it was my favorite. It's a big, cabernet-like pinot--big enough to take on beef dishes and perhaps even lamb. Wahle Yamhill-Carlton pinot (1999 is a good year) is similar. The Russian River stuff from Joseph Swan and Siduri is also great.

Favorite: 2002 Domaine de Perdrix Echezeaux. I was lucky enough to do a 2002 flight of Echezeaux. It was still several years from maturity, but the Perdrix blew me away.

Summer Recommendation: Domaine Tempier Bandol Rose (Kermit Lynch). It's on the pricey side for rose but worth every penny.

[Buster Highmen]

Favorite: 2002 Domaine de Perdrix Echezeaux. I was lucky enough to do a 2002 flight of Echezeaux. It was still several years from maturity, but the Perdrix blew me away.

One of my favs too, I've got a1/2 case of the 2002 quietly lurking.

[AKbruin]

One of my favs too, I've got a1/2 case of the 2002 quietly lurking.

Wow. Do you have a cellar or wine storage unit?

[Tye 1on]

If you change yer mind on the Merlot thing, the new Columbia Crest Grand Estates merlot is really fucking great.

Not bad for $8.00

As far as Pinots go I like the New Zealand offerings lately. They don't break the bank either, ranging from $15-25.

Just bought a couple bottles of this, and 'really fucking great' pretty much sums it up.

Jackson mags: found it on sale for $9.99 at Smiths....

[trainnvain]

for me:
price point is Angeline, Louis Latour, the last of my 2003 Tohu.
Going up a notch once a week or so is the ABC, Saintbury 2003 (3 bottles away from 2004, booo!!!!) or Adelsheim (yum!).
Once a month or two is the Robert Sinskeys, Byrons and some 5 to 6 year Cote de Nuits offerings.
For occasions are some Chevalier nd Puligny Montrachets and 2 bottles of Kistler (always known for Chardonnay, way overlooked for Pinot).

No RomaneeConti in the cellar yet.

For summertime on the cheap reds, I'm usually guzzling Beajoulais or domestic rhone styles.

[Buster Highmen]

Wow. Do you have a cellar or wine storage unit?

Le cellar garagiste.