Who knows Pinot Noir?

Have you tried Navarro Méthode à l'Ancienne? W.H Smith?

My current favorite lower priced Oregon PN I should really not mention, and let it continue to fly under the radar. The 2006 O'Reilly's is an amazingly rich PN for the price, yet firm, with no over-ripe notes.

The only "bargain" Burgundy I can think of off the top of my head is Drouhin's Vero 2005.

$35 is a tough cut off price for Pinot. I suggest you go with the Siduri Sonoma Coast -- good and right around your price point.

Also, there are a number of producers who sell their juice about thistime every year, and many times the "generic" wines bottled by 3rd party producers are wonderful and are great values. Wine Spectrum has a pretty good one -- at least the last 2 or 3 years.

Argyle and St Innocent wines from Willamette valley in Oregon make single vineyard wines that are readily availible for your $35 dollar price range. I find their wines very good for the money.

Hartford Court is about $33 here in CA. I also enjoy Sebastiani's Carneros bottling that is only available direct from them at $26 (Not the Sonoma County bottling that is $10 at Costco).

St. Innocent for $35? Where?

Here's one for you, it's kind of my secret Oregon Pinot as you never hear about it in the trade rags.
Zivo, He makes unfined, unfiltered full bodied pinot. Last time I talked to him, he still had 2003 wines available. The retail price is right around $30, check the website for local availability, but more than likely you'll have to call up the winery to order.

Sinskey $35
W.H. Smith Sonoma <$30
Acacia Napa <$25
2006 Over the Shoulder (Aussie) <$15 (Best QPR Pinot)

quote:

Originally posted by Golf&Pinot Nut:
St. Innocent for $35? Where?

The regular St. Innocent Willamette Valley is always a good buy. It should be under $25. Same with Sineann. His blend is preferable to some of the single vineyard bottlings, and is much towards the CA taste.
Watch for the 2006s. They are ripe, balanced (OK-a little high on alcohol) and approachable early.

Here are some of my favorites. You should be able to find some of these in your price range. They will probably be the blended wines and not single vineyard, unless you get a good deal at auction.

Not in a particular order:

Walter Hansel
Freeman
Windy Oaks
Dutton Goldfield
Ken Brown
Morgan

Chasseur Sonoma and Russian River- If you like KB, you'll like these. $ 32 if you join the pinot club

WH Smith Sonoma- great wine for under $30

Talley- central coast for around $ 30

Chehalem 3- very nice Oregon pinot around $ 27

Montes Limited Selection- great everday qpr for $ 12.

Its not the best and is up and down but it is not the worst. I keep a few bottle of Cambria Julia's Vineyard around. About $20-$22 and available for me most time.

Otherwise my Pinot Noir selections are in the $40-70 range and outside of your request.

I do agree with Siduri Sonoma Coast. I've never had a bad Siduri but my favorite are still in my upper range.

Being a Pinot lover for many years, I am skittish of all the new Pinot comming on the market in the last 2-3 years trying to catch a few before the popularity bubble bursts.

The 2005 Sojourn Sonoma Coast is terrific and retails for $36.00. A tasting group that I am involved with went through a number of cases of the '05 Sojourn Sonoma Coast, as well as the Sojourn Sangiacomo... Loved both of them!!! Note: The Sojourn Sangiacomo is $48.

I know that the 2004 Mietz Sonoma Coast Pinot ($30.00) was distributed on the East Coast... The winery is out of both the '04 and '05, but you might nose around and find some on a shelf somewhere. I only got to particpate in one bottle of 2005 Mietz Sonoma Coast... Virtually the entire production went to the East Coast. Our tasting group liked the '04 Mietz as well. I think that I loaded 9 cases in the back seat of my car, on one of my numerous visits to the winery.

For California, my favorite PN by far is Hanzell.

After that, it is all Oregon.

Domaine Drouhin
Domaine Serene
Archery Summit
DePonte Cellars

Staying on focus (recommendations for Pinot at $35 or less)... I forgot to mention that I don't think that I've ever participated in a bottle of Walter Hansel that I didn't thoroughly enjoy.

Walter Hansel makes several different Pinots that are in the $35 and under category. Even when they are young, I have found them to be an excellent pop-and-pour, with little or no decanting necessary.

One more Pinot, if you can stretch the budget just a couple of dollars to $38... 2005 Ketcham Estate Russian River Pinot. Relatively new producer, the wine maker being Michael Browne (as in Kosta Browne). It should be one for you to put onto your list to try. In fact, this might be a good mailing list to get on.

For about $23 seek out Tollot-Beau's Chorey Les Beaune. Always a great qpr in good vintages, which is a RARE find in Burgundy. It is also a mid more new worldy than most Burgundies so a good crossover.

I think the basic Freeman is under $35 -- very tasty.

I would also reccomend La Crema Sonoma Coast which should be at or below about $20.

The basic Sainsbury is usually about $25 and I've never been dissapointed with a good vintage of that.

I've never had it, but based upon the more expensive "Beacon Hill" bottling (and the expertise of the winemaker) I feel comfortable reccomending the baic Oregon bottling from Soter.

One Italian wine to look for is Braida il Baciale. It is a Pinot/Barbera blend pried around $26 and, even though it contains a high percentage of Barbera, it is generally the Pinot that really shines through.

There have been some good recommendations. I would like to add:

Melville Estate
Melville Verna's
Londer Anderson Valley
Lemelson Thea's
Merry Edwards Sonoma Coast
Chasseur Sonoma Caost and RRV (Typically can be found at retail stores for around $35-$40)

As for specific vintages, James Laube recently had some positive comments on his blog about the 2006 De Loach Russian River Valley . Over 17,000 cases were made, so it should be easy to find. The suggested retail is $20, but I am sure you will find this for less if you do a little searching.
The 2005 Belle Vallee Willamette Valley ($22) was an incredible value, as well as the Reserve ($32). The 2006's are starting to hit the shelves. Based on Harvey's recent comments about the '06 Oregon vintage on his blog, it will be worth giving these a try as well.

Belle Glos Clarke & Telephone is available here for $35 and it's one of my favorites.

quote:

Originally posted by winetarelli:

For about $23 seek out Tollot-Beau's Chorey Les Beaune. Always a great qpr in good vintages, which is a RARE find in Burgundy. It is also a mid more new worldy than most Burgundies so a good crossover.



I've never had it, but based upon the more expensive "Beacon Hill" bottling (and the expertise of the winemaker) I feel comfortable reccomending the baic Oregon bottling from Soter.

Brilliant!

quote:

My current favorite lower priced Oregon PN I should really not mention, and let it continue to fly under the radar. The 2006 O'Reilly's is an amazingly rich PN for the price, yet firm, with no over-ripe notes.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try to find some of these.

pape du neuf - I have heard great things about the O'Reillys PN. I called the vineyard but they do not ship to NC at moment. I hear it really is good for $15.00

Thanks all.

Cabsandzins

Cabsandzins,

Can you receive mail order shipments in NC?
If so, try avalonwine.com, a specialist in Oregon and Washington wines.

On the Oregon front try some of these.

Ponzi Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 05 $30

Willakenzie Pinot Noir WV 05 $24

Cloudline Not quite as good as the wines I listed above but a good deal at $16 Cloudline is a second label from Drouhin.

If you can go a bit higher in price I would highly recommend Le Cadeau. Tom Mortimer is making some really nice pinots out of his vineyard in Oregon.

KarenT
www.jeanedwardscellars.com

the wh smith 05 sonoma coast is $28 and scored like 94 points.

Agree w/G&PN on the Siduri Sonoma Coast; I'd add the following Cali PNs:

'05 Roessler Bluejay ($35)
'04 Roessler Red Label ($27)
'04 & '05 Sebastiani Appellation Selection PN ($28)
'03 Truchard PN ($28)

and if you really want to go cheap but still have something drinkable, just about any of the last four vintages of La Crema PN. Sub-$20, and very drinkable.