Pinot Noir Wine Reviews
I drank these 10 wines and tasted berry, bright, earthy, fruity, juicy, raspberry, red fruit, smoky, smooth tannin, spice. The wines are aged, biodynamic, food friendly, my favorites, organically farmed, small production, whole cluster and came from a variety of sources, including wine clubs, wineries, and wine stores.
Wine reviews by: Jessyca Frederick |
2017 Ken Brown Wines Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir
A beautiful example of what put Sta. Rita Hills on the map of world’s best Pinot Noir regions.
Tasting notes: red fruit, spice
Talinay is like Bourgogne in Chile, but with a fruit forward, new world sensibility. This is a winery to know if you like Pinot Noir (or Chablis-style Chardonnay)
Tasting notes: black cherry, berry, spice, bright
2019 Penrose Hill Firstleaf Ralí
White pepper and raspberry are common flavors in Pinot Noir, but this one brought pomegranate to the glass, too.
Tasting notes: red fruit, raspberry
2019 Westmount Wine Company Westmount Pinot Noir
A round, juicy, red fruit Pinot with smooth tannins and a long finish. Also an impressive value at $25. These are things I don’t find enough of in most of Willamette’s Pinot Noir, and rarely find in a Pinot that costs less than $45.
Tasting notes: fruity, juicy, smooth tannin
2017 Ken Brown Wines Envision Pinot Noir
The 2017 Envision, a blend of some of SYV’s best vineyards, represented a classic style of Pinot Noir common to the area.
Tasting notes: smoky, red fruit, bright
NV Laetitia Winery Sweet Sparkling Rosé
This was fruity and balanced and seemed more Demi-Sec than straight up sweet as the label suggests, but that could be because the wine had enough acid.
Tasting notes: balanced, red fruit, sweet
2019 Story of Soil Duvarita Vineyard Pinot Noir
A complex, red-fruit forward, slightly smoky Pinot Noir that typifies the Sta. Rita Hills appellation and showcases winemaker Jessica Gasca’s love of letting the grapes shine.
Tasting notes: red fruit, smoky, smooth, cherry, cranberry
2021 Naked Wines F. Stephen Millier Legend Series Santa Barbara Pinot Noir
For $15.99 this Pinot Noir was an impressive doppelganger for Santa Barbara’s more premium product, but the complexity and depth was missing.
Tasting notes: red fruit, earthy
2019 Bernardus Winery Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
A red-fruit forward Pinot Noir, well-balanced and bright but not overpowering acidity — all the things that make Pinot from Santa Lucia Highlands sought after.
Tasting notes: red fruit, bright
2020 Margerum Wine Company Barden Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills
A beautifully-made Pinot Noir from Sta. Rita Hills featuring organic fruit from top vineyards in the region: La Encantada, Sanford & Benedict, and Radian.
Tasting notes: red fruit, spice, earthy, mushroom, dried herbs
Notice: I hold no formal wine credentials. I am a wine geek who has consumed 1000+ of bottles from 100+ different wine clubs and 1000s more bottles that didn’t come from those wine clubs. I do not accept payment for wine reviews, and I do not accept payments to influence my opinions. I happily accept free wine (and I buy wine).
Why read my wine reviews: Wine taste is subjective. What I like may not be what you like. I try to leave room for you to form your own opinions, so I don’t provide a score or a rating. I do point out wines that are an incredible value or truly not worth the money. I note flaws, wines that don’t have typicity (because this matters if you are buying wine without having tasted it yourself), when wines are out of balance, and when wines lack appropriate body.
I don’t like wasting money (or anything for that matter). I’m careful about where I spend my money and my mindset as a reviewer is to be careful about where you spend yours. I don’t believe a high price tag equals quality and I know for sure there are wines of very good quality that are also a great value.
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