Wine of the Month - October 2011
2010 The Pinot Project Pinot Noir - $11.99
“I need a good Pinot Noir under $15…” A common enough refrain in any retail wine shop. It should be easy to comply really, but to be honest it’s been a struggle to find a Pinot Noir from California recently that really satisfies at this price. The post-Sideways expansion of the Pinot Noir market (and subsequent up-tick in land and fruit prices) resulted in slim pickings at the lower end of the price spectrum.
Our current recession-style period of slow growth recovery is offering up some intriguing bargains in our business, but even this one came as a surprise… Michael Skurnik, a well-known importer of excellent esoteric German, Austrian and French wines, has got hold of some high-quality, hand-made Pinot Noir from an unnamed source (all very hush-hush, but it’s probably from somewhere in Sonoma or Mendocino Counties) and is bottling it under the somewhat imagination-free label that you see before you. The label is of no consequence, as the wine is a fantastic bargain.
Showing pure red cherry and raspberry fruits on the nose, this is an expressive little Pinot Noir, texturally complex and velvety, with plenty of earth tones and minerals on the finish. Let’s hope supply lasts on this one, as it’s something we’ve needed for a while now.
“I need a good Pinot Noir under $15…” A common enough refrain in any retail wine shop. It should be easy to comply really, but to be honest it’s been a struggle to find a Pinot Noir from California recently that really satisfies at this price. The post-Sideways expansion of the Pinot Noir market (and subsequent up-tick in land and fruit prices) resulted in slim pickings at the lower end of the price spectrum.
Our current recession-style period of slow growth recovery is offering up some intriguing bargains in our business, but even this one came as a surprise… Michael Skurnik, a well-known importer of excellent esoteric German, Austrian and French wines, has got hold of some high-quality, hand-made Pinot Noir from an unnamed source (all very hush-hush, but it’s probably from somewhere in Sonoma or Mendocino Counties) and is bottling it under the somewhat imagination-free label that you see before you. The label is of no consequence, as the wine is a fantastic bargain.
Showing pure red cherry and raspberry fruits on the nose, this is an expressive little Pinot Noir, texturally complex and velvety, with plenty of earth tones and minerals on the finish. Let’s hope supply lasts on this one, as it’s something we’ve needed for a while now.
