Sepia Reserva Pinot Noir

Name: Sepia Reserva Pinot Noir
Color: Red
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2010
Country/State: Chile
Region: Casablanca Valley
Price: $10
Stars: 4 (out of 5)

We had this wine for the first time last night with Kentucky Hot Browns...It was good with dinner, but really opened up and tasted much better a couple of hours later.  This wine definitely benefited from a little air time.  It was very rich, with berry fruits and some earth.  A nice, light bodied wine for a change of pace.  For the price, it's a very good deal.

Belle Glos Meiomi Pinot Noir

Name: Belle Glos Meiomi Pinot Noir
Color: Red
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2009
Country/State: California
Region: Various
Price: $22
Stars: 4.5 (out of 5)


Wow...this is a juicy wine full of red berry and blackberry goodness. I've had this wine by the glass at Carmel Cafe & Wine Bar, but this was the first time we've had a bottle at home. It was delicious. Very fruit forward, but with depth to be taken seriously. It had a bigger body than a lot of Pinots, which I really like. Krista and I both really enjoyed this wine and can't wait to have it again.

Belle Glos has a couple of other Pinot Noirs that sound delicious as well. I'll keep an eye out for those.

McWilliam's Pinot Noir

Name: McWilliam's Pinot Noir
Color: Red
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2008
Country/State: Australia
Region: SE Australia
Price: $12
Stars: 4 (out of 5)


This was our first Australian Pinot Noir, and it definitely won't be the last...It was big and juicy with a much bigger body than I expected from a Pinot. It featured red berries, cherries, and some spice. It was very smooth and a bit more complex than I thought it would be. Overall, I was very pleased with the McWilliam's Pinot Noir. Good stuff!

Torii Mor Pinot Noir

Name: Torii Mor
Color: Red
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2008
Country/State: Oregon
Region: Willamette Valley
Price: $25
Stars: 4.5 (out of 5)

Wow!! I really liked this Pinot Noir from Oregon's Willamette valley. It was big and earthy, with flavors of cherries, raspberries, strawberries, and more earth. The color in the glass was a ruby red and it looked a little light. The nose and taste, however, were much bigger and more powerful than the color would suggest, which is something I love in a good Pinot.

We had the Torii Mor for Thanksgiving with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, etc. It was terrific with food. It really seemed to pull all of the flavors of the meal together and the taste of the wine really exploded when mixed with the meal. This is a terrific wine with great structure, balance, aromas, and taste.

Mirassou Pinot Noir

Name: Mirassou
Color: Red
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2008
Country/State: California
Region: Various
Price: $8
Stars: 3.5 (out of 5)



We've had this bargain Pinot Noir from California before and liked it for what it is -- a nice mid-week easy drinking wine that bursts with cherry and strawberry flavors. It's not going to blow you away with its complexity, but it is very enjoyable, almost like drinking cherry pie.

We had this wine last night with some pasta, but it was best on its own. It's very smooth, juicy, and tasty.

Castle Rock Pinot Noir

Name: Castle Rock Pinot Noir
Color: Red
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2008
Country/State: California
Region: Mendocino County
Price: $12
Stars: 4 (out of 5)

We had the Castle Rock Pinot Noir earlier this week with teriyaki grilled chicken and pasta. It is often recommended as a tremendous value, and I completely agree. We both enjoyed it quite a bit. It's a bit darker and more medium bodied than a lot of Pinot Noirs we've had recently, so that probably helps explain one of the reasons we liked it so much.

The nose is great, with big dark red fruit flavors and a hint of oak. The taste is dominated by strawberry and raspberry. It's a very silky smooth wine, with a nice, long finish. I highly recommend the Castle Rock Mendocino Pinot Noir and will definitely buy more in the future.

Castle Rock is a "virtual" winery that sources its grapes from throughout the West coast. All of the grapes from this wine came from Mendocino County in northern California.

D'Autrefois Vin de Pays Pinot Noir

Name: D'Autrefois Vin de Pays Pinot Noir
Color: Red
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2008
Country/State: France
Region: Languedoc Roussillon
Price: $10
Stars: 3.5 (out of 5)

This is the best selling Pinot Noir at Total Wine, but it really wasn't anything special to me. It had a light body, with aromas and taste of strawberry and other soft red fruits. It improved with some time in the glass, but never really developed into anything more than "OK". Several months ago, we had the "Reserve" version of the D'Autrefois Pinot. This "regular" bottling was very similar to the Reserve, but without some of the earthiness of the Reserve. I would probably pass on both of these wines in the future.

MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir

Name: MacMurray Ranch
Color: Red
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2007
Country/State: California
Region: Sonoma
Price: $16
Stars: 4 (out of 5)


After a rainy day of watching college bowl games, we opened this earthy Pinot Noir from MacMurray Ranch. I remembered trying this wine and liking it at one of the Friday night wine tastings at Ed's Fine Wines. We drank this wine with dinner -- cheese tortellini with red sauce. It went well with the dinner, but really got better and better throughout the night as it opened up and some of the oak blew off. Next time, I will definitely decant this one for an hour or so.

The nose was dark red fruits and earth. The taste was mostly strawberry and cherry, with a nice long finish. It was very smooth and well balanced....This was our first Pinot Noir in quite a long time, and we really enjoyed it and would definitely buy it again.

Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Wine

Name: Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs
Color: White
Varietal: Sparkling
Vintage: 2003
Country/State: California
Region: Various
Price: $30
Stars: 4 (out of 5)


We took a bottle of the Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs sparkling wine with us on our trip to St. Augustine to celebrate our 13th anniversary!! We drank it in our room without food (well, we did have some chocolates that we bought earlier in the day from Claude's Chocolates!)....

The wine had a fairly strong aroma (Krista could smell it from across the room after I opened it and poured some in our glasses). The nose was softly fruity and nutty. On the palate, I tasted creamy strawberries, peaches, and a doughy/nutty component. It was quite tasty, especially as the night went on. I don't have much experience with sparkling wines, so I don't have a whole lot to compare to. Being a 2003 vintage, I don't know if this wine was considered past its prime or not, but we enjoyed it for what it was -- the perfect accompaniment to our quiet anniversary celebration. I will always remember this wine for the role it played in our trip to St. Augustine.


I noted somewhere online that Wine Spectator rated the 2003 vintage 92 points.

D'Autrefois Reserve Pinot Noir

Name: D'Autrefois Reserve
Color: Red
Varietal: Pinot Noir

Vintage: 2007
Country/State: France
Region: Vin de Pays
Price: $13
Stars: 3.5 (out of 5)

I picked up this wine at Total Wines based on the recommendation of one of the employees. The standard (non-reserve) bottling of D'Autrefois Pinot Noir is the best selling Pinot in the store. I really want to try that version to compare it to the Reserve, which is about $3-4 more than the regular bottling. We drank this last night with chicken and pasta. It was good, but not particularly memorable in any way that would make me want to rush out and buy more. It was light, a little fruity with some earthiness, and was easy to drink. I wish I had stuck with my original intention of picking up a bottle of the Castle Rock Mendocino Pinot that I have seen highly recommended as a great value Pinot Noir.

Gloria Ferrer Pinot Noir Rose

Name: Gloria Ferrer
Color: Rose
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2006
Country/State: California
Region: Sonoma
Price: $10
Stars: 3.5 (out of 5)


This was a nice, dry Rosé made from Pinot Noir grapes that I found to be very refreshing, but lacking any punch that would make it exciting or especially memorable....We drank a couple of glasses last night after dinner. It was definitely more enjoyable than my last Rosé experience (a Rosé under the Menage a Trois label that I found to be too floral for my taste). This one by Gloria Ferrer was on sale at Ed's Fine Wines for $10, so I picked it up as I've been meaning to experiment with some Rosés for awhile now. The aroma was primarily strawberry, raspberry, and something else I couldn't really describe, kind of a flowery watermelon scent. Krista thought it smelled like cran-grape juice, so who knows...There's really no wrong answer. The taste was similar to the nose, mostly strawberry, raspberry, and watermelon, with a little peach juice. It was very easy drinking and not at all sweet or cloying. I liked it more and more as it warmed up in the glass.

We also have a Rosé from La Vieille Ferme at home. We'll probably try that one next week. It will be nice to see how it compares to the Gloria Ferrer.

Mirassou Pinot Noir

Name: Mirassou
Color: Red
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2007
Country/State: California
Region: Various
Price: $8
Stars: 4 (out of 5)

I was really prepared to not like this wine based on the fact that "cheap" and "Pinot Noir" aren't usually a good match. I was worried that it would be dull, flat, or something worse. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The Mirassou Pinot Noir was much better than I expected for the price. This was an excellent value (less than $10) for a very tasty wine.

The aroma was not very complex, but still really nice. I smelled mostly red fruits - cherry, strawberry, with some vanilla. The taste was all strawberry with some vanilla-like creaminess. We drank this wine with marinated chicken breasts and stuffing. I also drank a couple of glasses without food and really enjoyed it. I would definitely buy this wine again. It was very smooth and balanced, light bodied, and easy drinking. Mark West makes a Pinot Noir in this price range that I've read good things about. That's probably the next one I'll try.

It really makes me want to try some higher end Pinots to see what all the fuss is about.