Here’s a great buy for Pinot Noir grown in the prime appellation, Sonoma Coast: Normally $45 retail online, you can get it for $33.99 at Tastes of the Valleys Pismo. This cool-climate Pinot has an impressive array of ripe red and black fruit flavors, spice box notes, and a lovely thread of minerality that tells of its origin. Perfect for special holiday dinner parties, it gives those high priced Napa Valley Pinots a run for the money in the price/value ratio. Pair it with prime rib, wild King salmon, seared ahi, or a great steak. But you’ll find this Pinot Noir so delightful it might not last until dinner.
This article appears in Dec 6-13, 2012.