Cheap Pinot Noir, Any Good Ones?

Cheap Pinot Noir, Any Good Ones? – Episode #259

June 19, 2007

Pinot Noir is HOT and everyone is all about it but are there any good ones under ten bones?

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Comments on this episode(243) Leave a comment ›

“Hands down Talus Shiraz was the most god awful wine i have ever tasted…” by Dennis
“A question…is Pinot Noir considered a light bodied wine or full bodi…” by Adrian
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Wines tasted in this episode:

Talus Pinot NoirOther California Pinot Noir
Lindemans Pinot Noir Bin 99Australian Pinot Noir
Cavit Pinot NoirTrentino Alto Adige IGT
Barkan Pinot NoirIsraeli Kosher Wine

243 Responses

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June 19, 2007

Greg B.
WOW, I don’t know Big G. Did you really think you might find a gem in that Locker Room? No frigin way.
I bet you could with Shiraz, but not Pinot.
QOTD Leaving Cork’d Wine and the Like out. I would have to say a few bottles that I got from Trader Joes were god-awful. One Chilean and the other a French nightmare.
Keep seeking out the deals for us G. I don’t think I can stomach doing it myself.
June 19, 2007

RIck K
Wow, I was really excited when I saw the title today. I have been on a search for a $10 bottle of Pinot to drink daily. Hope you can redo this episode and find a few. We are counting you. You need to test that 4th bottle tomorrow by the way. We are waiting on pins and needles.
June 19, 2007

Badger Ann
QOTD: Hands down, it was Yellow Tail Merlot. I drank it on a dare.
June 19, 2007

Douche
Decent, cheap Pinot does exist, I’ve had several great examples of it over here in the UK, all of it from Chile. No other country seems to able to compete with Chile in this price range for Pinot. Quite how they are doing it must be a mystery to the rest of the winemaking world, eh?
June 19, 2007

PapaMike
Were you cursed on this show or what? Better luck tomorrow.

QOTD: Mother-in-law cracked open a bottle of Grandpa’s cherry wine once. Tasted like vinegar but I couldn’t convince her it wasn’t good.
June 19, 2007

Robin
Nice shirt.
QOTD: My worst $10.00 bottle of wine: I’m not sure how much these wines cost, but a friend and I took a tour of New Mexico wineries in our area – up to Santa Fe and Taos – and this is the only time it’s happened to me – I took a sip of the wine in the first winery and realized that this liquid should not be swallowed, it was so incredibly awful,and my friend was doing the same thing-looking around for a place to get rid of the wine. I think we finally swallowed it, but were very careful from then on.
I don’t understand what the problem is. The winemakers were so nice, and some of them had even studied at the University of Davis. But they didn’t even seem to realize that the wine was swill. The other people in our group were actually purchasing some of the wine. It was eerie.
That being said, Gruet (Albuquerque) champagne (he purchases his grape) makes good stuff, and Casa Rondena does reasonably well. Nothing under $10.00 though.
June 19, 2007

Sean
the wine was called Pinot Evil…..and it was….
June 19, 2007

JonE
Balls out G-Man to take the chance. Well done.

QOTD: without a doubt anything from Fox Hollow.
June 19, 2007

Brad
Definitely a tough price point to find sound pinot noir in…a grape that fairs remarkably poorly at high yields (considering it’s already a low yielding grape w/ little vigor), unlike cabernet. Having said that, the bottles you chose are fowl! How about a little Bogle or Echelon in the house? Represent w/ some decent producers! Cavit?! Might as well bring back the Charles Shaw w/ some Bolla on the side!
June 19, 2007

Tommy Vernieri
I have the Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir (from France), now I’m interested to see how bad it is after making this “worst list” twice. My worst wine was just this week, White Lie Early Season Chardonnay. It was marketed as low calorie wine for women; tasted like funky water. The whole bottle got dumped.
June 19, 2007

Glazer
QOTD= The worst under $10 Pinot has to be Lindemans. I describe the taste as, if you decided to go out and run 10 miles on a hot summer day holding a handful of pennies, and then at the end you stopped and dropped the pennies and then decided to lick your hand, that’s wahat it tasted like. :
June 19, 2007

Russ J
Who didn’t see this coming from a MILE away? I’ve had the Cavit and, I think, the Lindemans. Just awful…..but not the answer to the QOTD (also asked some time ago in the Forum) which was Corbett Canyon Merlot, under $10 in the magnum and WAY overpriced. And I drank several glasses of this crap. Why? Because there clearly is something wrong with me, and it was a party and that’s all that there was. It was a nightmare in the canyon…canyon…canyon….Next time, I’m hitting the Arbor Mist!
June 19, 2007

Autoproxy
For a good Pinot value, I’d suggest Beringer Founder’s Estate. Has to be better than what you tried today. You guys sell it for $8.34, and it’s the only varietal in that series that I like.

QOTD – probably too many to list. The *worst* though? Maybe any/all CA Sauvignon Blancs that I’ve tried…just not the right terroir. Or poor efforts from producers, who knows.
June 19, 2007

Kraemer
A decent, sup 10.00 dollar bottle of Pinot? I think they don’t exist. It’s way too expensive for a winery to produce a cheap, quality, $10.00 dollar bottle of Pinot Noir simply due to the delicate nature of the grape and all of the care involved. It’s expensive.

Sorry about your luck today, Gary. I had a similar experience last night.

QOTD: Oh jesus, I wish I still had the bottle as I don’t remember the name of it. It was a 2001 Napa Valley Pinot Noir of some sort and I had decent expectations for it due to the vintage, but was sadly dissappointed. The nose was dull and lifeless and the chasiss was overcome by prominent grapefruit flavors. Overall it was completely unbalanced and shallow.
June 19, 2007

ChadD.
I agree with Tim above: got to be the TJCS Beaujolais-stangest wine ever. But now that I think about it…my family and friends keep giving me “wine” from several local “wineries” from back home (Southern IL). They ALL taste like cheap kroger brand grape juice mixed with cheap vodka.
June 19, 2007

MikeBro
Oh Yuck on the Pinots today!

QOTD: Under 10 bones would have to be any boxed wine, they are all pretty bad. Did have some Boons Farm long ago that made sick. That would have to be the worst under 5 bones.

Gary, lets do some 15 to 20 dollar Pinots. Oh wait you probably already have, I’ll check some past eps.

Thanks,

MB
June 19, 2007

yowens44
Never really been into Pinot and this episode doesnt help. QOTD: Honestly, and I hope he’s not watching- my friends Cab/merlot blend he’s making in his basement I tried this weekend. Horrible. Smelled like bleach + fungus.
June 19, 2007

vivaitalia
I don’t think it’s the price that doomed those wines but the fact that those were the grocery store over produced brands that you can find all over the country. I can’t even imagine the production numbers. The really good cheap wines i’ve had were usually from countries that aren’t big in the wine world like hungary and austria. Spain though by far has the best qpr wines (even in the 5-7 dollar range!) that i’ve had. Maybe an episode on what you know are high quality $5 wines sometime in the future? QOTD Cribari chianti (the kind that comes in a giant jug and you find at truck stop cafe’s and such) And this burgandy that’s from one of the generic cali super brands I can’t remember. I’ve been getting alot of corked wines lately.
June 19, 2007

tomfar
QOTD – travelling in Europe after high school we bought a bottle of cheap spanish wine in a plastic bottle in the late 70’s. Somehow I forgot the name, vintage, cepage, etc, etc, etc.
June 19, 2007

hugh
let’s face it……who makes great “cheap wine”?…..spain!!…..and i’ve never had a spanish pinot noir….why???….because the Spaniards are smart….you can find many great $15 and under tempranillos and garnachas, so why even try pinot….they know, as i do….pinot noir + under $15 = CRAP!!!

if you want under $10 and quality, look to Spain or Cotes du Rhone!!

oh, and at last, a corked wine!!!
June 19, 2007

ChrisR
Hey I was first? There’s two 2 ChrisR’s now!
Somebody is highjacking my screen name!
June 19, 2007

tomfar
Looming disaster for Pinot. Dreck is dreck, no matter the varietal. Merlot was a victim of it’s own success + cycles of the wine business = don’t invest in marginal Pinot regions, 5 years???
June 19, 2007

AlisonD
QOTD: 2 Buck Chuck – any of them!
June 19, 2007

slappy
QOTD: Wild Irish Rose. We used to pick it up for 1.25. Sorry
June 19, 2007

Spacejay
QOTD – Fat Bastard. It was like drinking bacon fat.