Wine

Arguably the most difficult grape to grow, wine to produce and value-plagued varietal, Pinot Noir commands the preference of the world’s discerning wine drinkers. At its best, she delivers silken/velvety texture, cherry and earthly tones of unimaginable complexity, and the balance of a mountain goat. Unfortunately, the price for these prestigious specimens disenchants all but a select few, myself included. There is nothing in this world that motivates a wine geek like the unattainable, and I’ve been searching for a value Pinot Noir for over two years with little success – until now.

The 2006 Castle Rock Sonoma County Pinot Noir is an unbelievable value. At less than $15, she delivers cherry, black cherry, and earthy flavors with medium/full body and without a fault. This is the highest quality Pinot Noir I’ve tasted at this price. Don’t hesitate to request or purchase this wine immediately (I just talked to sales representatives from International and they have it in stock).

Why is it that a good and inexpensive Pinot Noir is so hard to find? It starts in the vineyard. The Pinot Noir grape is comparatively large and delicate, with a thin skin that burns easily. Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah grapes are smaller and hardy, with a thicker skin. Pinot Noir is a watercolor to Cabernet’s oil painting. Stray brush strokes in the oil painting are easily covered, while the translucence of the watercolor leaves little room for error.

One of the necessary evils in keeping prices low is high production. Anyone trying to harvest a large quantity of Pinot Noir isn’t going to be able to pick the entire crop at the optimum time. The result is often a mishmash of unripe, ripe and over-ripe grapes. Picking through all of the clusters would be time consuming and expensive. Choosing only the best grapes would severely diminish yields, making a $15 retail unattainable. The price-conscious winemaker is forced to work with low quality grapes.

Once harvested, the delicate Pinot Noir grapes are pressed. The thin, delicate skins contain less color and tannin than other varietals; creating a juice that favors subtlety over substance. Think of the flavoring methods available to a chef cooking lake trout and a prime rib. The prime rib can be grilled, charred, BBQ-ed and marinated. It is tough and resilient and almost always tastes good.

The lake trout is a bastard! It needs to be cooked immediately, with only the lightest of seasoning (salt, lemon, and butter), and turns tough if you overcook the paper-thin filets. Cabernet is the steak and Pinot Noir is the lake trout. New Oak would obliterate all but the most substantial Pinot Noir. Unfortunately, low quality Pinot Noir grapes have nowhere to hide. With no way to mask the flavors, these wines are cursed from the start.

Almost all Pinot Noirs retailing for less than $15 have serious flaws. Most are extremely light, dilute and under-ripe. These wines often taste green and stalky, with bitter tannin. They will usually taste better with food, but it has more to do with the food quality than the wine quality. Some wines go to the other extreme; over-ripe, with plum and overripe black cherry flavors, high alcohol and a sickly-sweet finish. Others blend the ripe with the un-ripe, creating a disjointed blend of flavors and sensations.

Why did Castle Rock succeed where so many others have failed? They stumbled across some excellent fruit at a great price, and they blended 75 percent Pinot Noir with 25 percent Syrah (California permits a wine to be called Pinot Noir if it contains at least 75 percent Pinot Noir). Some of the great French Pinot Noirs have been subsidized with Grenache and/or Syrah from the Rhone for years! It adds color, body, flavor, and texture (all of the things cheap Pinot Noir is missing).

Contact Matt Devan at wineguy@lagniappemobile.com.

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