What Is A Good Pinot Noir Value?

Copain Tous Ensemble. Excellent for $26-ish.

T. Solomon Wellborn is a wine made by Tantara that's around $18. Tantara takes their worst barrels and blends them together. Hard to find. Usually Wally's in LA has a lot of them. In fact, they may get all of it.

I also like Innocent Bystander, an Aussie pinot that's about $9-$11. At that price, it's good pinot and you'll be hard pressed to find better.

I've been enjoying New Zealand Pinot lately. Look for Nobilo Icon, which you can find for $15-20.

Belle Glos Meiomi is a good value.

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:
I've been enjoying New Zealand Pinot lately. Look for Nobilo Icon, which you can find for $15-20.

I have had the 2008 Framingham (South Island, Marlborough); half the bottle on the first night, then the remainder on the second night. The first night was the best, with mineral/earthy notes. Second night that quality was missing. Still not too bad for around $20.

Give the 2008 Mark West California a try. Very good, a little on the riper side for Pinot. Should be readily available fo about $11, maybe less. For a few bucks more, I like the MacMurray Ranch Central Coast, their lowest-price bottling.
Bill

Entry level 2008 Oregon Pinots are in the high teens to lower twenties. Kinda like shooting fish in a barrel. Hard to go wrong.

Crowley Willamette Valley $ 20
Evesham Wood Eola-Amity $ 20
Westrey Oracle $ 22

We just discovered Olivet Lane from the Russian River Valley. Excellent @ about $24/btl.

Ransom 2008 Catrall Vineyard. Best value Pinot I've ever had. It's the best Pinot I've had in recent memory as well... It should run under $30.

Sebastiani 07 Pinot for 13.99 is a very good value.

TERPS, is the Sebastiani restrained or a more typical really ripe 07? Just curious. May give one a try either way. TIA.

If you want to experience Pinot Noir, as an expression of its terroir, try Pinot from CA, OR, and Burgundy. If you want to be adventurous, try it from Alsace and Dr. K in the Fingers Lake region. Elsewhere, you will discover the full range of this grape. Pinot Noir is a grape of Nature and Nurture. It has to be in the right place, and given the right conditions, and treated as something special. When that happens, you get a great bottle of wine. If any one of these fails, the grape will turn on you, and show its faults. Bon chance!

Ray, have you had any Alsatian Pinot Noirs you liked? We were in Alsace this summer and didn't taste any we'd buy, other than maybe for a picnic.

As for Dr. Konstantin Frank, I think they produce the best reds in the Finger Lakes, but most of the region's Pinot Noirs are not good. I have a 2001 Dr. Konstantin Frank Pinot Noir that Willy gave me a couple of years before he died. He told me it would age well, so I'm holding it for a future offline.

the question alone sorta made me gag on my own tonsils...but your answers just made me throw up a lung.

i would accuse you all of just trying to be funny, but i fear not...

<shaking head as exiting>

Don't worry until you throw up the second lung.

First of all, you can't get good pinot noir advice from Tbird . Value is a different price point to different people. Yours? I just ordered a case of '09 Siduri Russian River pinot at $25 each because I knew it would thrill lots of house guests and I wouldn't be opening $50-70+ pinots with those cellar defenders around.

I would blow off Pinot and get the Southern Right Pinotage.

A really good value Pinot Noir I've been drinking lately is the Alfredo Roca 2009 Pinot Noir from Argentina. It's not a special occasion wine, but it's a damn good Pinot for sipping on a weeknight, and it'll set you back $12-$14, depending on where you buy it. I think I actually pay $11.99 for it here in North Carolina.

Sanford

agreed.

quote:

Originally posted by mountainman:
First of all, you can't get good pinot noir advice from Tbird .

OK. I just read this article:
Cheap Pinot Noir
10 Top Wines - $16 or Less.

Here's what they suggest / recommend. (all 2008's)

Toad Hollow Pinot Noir Goldie's Vineyard, Russian River Valley
Valley of the Moon Carneros Pinot Noir
Feudo Arancio Pinot Noir, Sicily, Italy
Mezzacorona Pinot Noir Vigneti delle Dolomiti, Italy
Montinore Estate Pinot Noir, Oregon
Kenwood Vineyards Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
The Seeker Pinot Noir, France
Mirassou California Pinot Noir
Hob Nob Pinot Noir, France
Erath Pinot Noir

I thought that Talbott Logan Santa Lucia Highlands was a very good value for about $22 per bottle.

quote:

Originally posted by Dragonphligh:
We just discovered Olivet Lane from the Russian River Valley. Excellent @ about $24/btl.

I bought this for 16.00 at a local costco and loved it. Merry Edwards sources grapes from here.

quote:

yhn
Member

Posted Aug 29, 2010 09:19 PM Hide Post
Copain Tous Ensemble. Excellent for $26-ish.

Actually think the 08 was released at $20. Pinot QPR doesn't get any better than that.

Bogle, Sean Minor, Fogdog, Amsfield(nz)and MacRostie have been good and dependable Pinot Noir values.

The appellation wines from Russian River, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast:

Siduri under $20

Loring $20-25

The appellation wines from Santa Lucia Highlands / Central Coast:

Calera Central Coast mid $20's

Morgan 12 Clones low $20's

If I was looking for a "value" pinot noir, Loring is where I'd look.

I think the 2009 Sean Minor 4 Bears Carneros kicks ass. $14 locally.

quote:

Originally posted by Maverick:
OK. I just read this article:
Cheap Pinot Noir
10 Top Wines - $16 or Less.

Mirassou California Pinot Noir

Erath Pinot Noir[/b]

I've had these two recently, yes, excellent values, and drink like much pricier ones.

I consider a wine a value if its price is below the average of similar scoring wines. I started WineBlueBook in 2004 for this purpose. For a 90 point West Coast Pinot Noir, the average price is $50. Here are the other Pinot averages:
84: $25
85: $28
86: $30
87: $33
88: $39
89: $46
90: $50
91: $66
92: $68
93: $74
94: $174
95: $211
96+ not enough statistically reliable data

You can visit the site and download the free sample issue which has the ‘average price per score’ for 19 different varietals at winebluebook.com.

I can't think of any US Pinot under $20 that's remotely worthwhile, but there are a few from Europe worth checking out:

Becker Estate (Pfalz)
Gerard Boulay Sancerre Rouge (Loire)
Domaine Camus-Bruchon Savigny-les-Beaune (Burgundy)

Just keep in mind that none of these compare with California in terms of jammy, sweet fruit. They're all on the light-bodied side but have good purity, focus and persistence on the finish and are very versatile with food.

quote:

Originally posted by Neil Monnens:

94: $174
95: $211

which wines went into that average??? I'm assuming you have to have included Burgundy...

I'll take a 90 at fifty and an 86 at thirty.

But the scale needs more work.

Pts Price Price/pt
84 $25.00 $0.30 xx
85 $28.00 $0.33 $0.03
86 $30.00 $0.35 $0.02
87 $33.00 $0.38 $0.03
88 $39.00 $0.44 $0.06
89 $46.00 $0.52 $0.07
90 $50.00 $0.56 $0.04
91 $66.00 $0.73 $0.17
92 $68.00 $0.74 $0.01
93 $74.00 $0.80 $0.06
94 $174.00 $1.85 $1.06
95 $211.00 $2.22 $0.37

As you can see, the incremental cost of moving from 86 to 87 is not that much. The incremental cost of going from 90 to 91 however, is downright foolish. This, I feel, is a great way to evaluate wine and also to give you an idea of how much more you are likely to enjoy the wine as you move from one point to another. After all, if you're paying a penny or so a point, that's not all so bad, but if you're paying seventeen cents a point, that's going to diminish your enjoyment.

Below $25 I think there is plenty:
Argyle - Willamette Valley
Pali - their blends which retail for about $20
Cambria - Santa Maria Valley
Morgan - Twelve Clones Sta Lucia Highlands
Domaine Carneros - Carneros

quote:

Originally posted by tanglenet:
The appellation wines from Russian River, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast:

Siduri under $20

Loring $20-25

+1

McHenry is good value, if you can find it.

I recommend Oyster Bay Pinot Noir. It's available everywhere and is a good quaffer for parties.

2009 Castle Rock Mendocino County Pinot Noir. Enjoyed a couple glasses the other night. It was quite tasty and is a really nice value at $10 retail.