Oregon Pinot Noir, especially from the Willamette Valley, is expensive. There are several reasons for this:
1. It is labor intensive to grow the Pinot Noir grape.
2. Oregon levies a tax on wine production and the proceeds are used by the state for research in grape growing and wine making.
3. Oregon laws are more strict than other states regarding wine production.
4. Quality always costs more.
The problem is that most of us do not want to spend over $20 a bottle, every time we desire a glass of Pinot Noir. Here are two under $20 Oregon Pinots that I recently tried that make good weekday choices.
Petiole Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2017
In recent years, I have been hesitant to buy Trader Joe's wines, except for the Grand Reserve and Platinum Reserve offerings. A few months ago, I purchased 2 bottles of Vintjs Pinot Noir Willamette Valley and I ended up adding some of the second bottle to pasta sauce and the rest went down the drain. I shop weekly at Trader Joe's and I have an eternal hope that I can find an Oregon Pinot Noir for less than $10 that is drinkable and this week, I found Petiole Pinot Noir Willamette Valley. This wine is not new to Trader Joe's but it is new to me.
There is little useful information on the bottle except that it is 2017 vintage and the alcohol content is 13.5%. The producer is said to be Petiole but I would not waste any gas riding around Dundee Oregon looking for a winery by that name.
I poured a glass of Petiole and placed it next to a glass of Primarius and the Petiole is lighter in color. Unsurprisingly, Petiole has light flavors of cherry and raspberry but little of the black cherry and blackberry flavors found in more expensive Oregon Pinot Noir. The finish is medium long and there are not a lot of tannins. However, there is some complexity here and this performs much better than expected for a $8.99 bottle of wine. You will not confuse this for a $30 wine but I was impressed with the value/price found in this bottle.
SC Wine Joe rating = 87 points
Primarius Pinot Noir Oregon 2015
Primarius is Precept Wine's label for Oregon wine. Primarius Pinot Noir is from the Oregon AVA, so some of the grapes may be from the Willamette Valley but a portion is from elsewhere in Oregon. Since it is only an Oregon AVA wine, it should be priced lower than most Willamette Valley AVA wines. I found it at a local wine shop for $15.99. In 2016, I found Primarius Willamette Valley at Costco for $11 and since the Willamette Valley version should be more expensive than the Oregon version, I think I may have overpaid for the wine. On the other hand, I did not like the Willamette Valley Pinot Noir but I liked the Oregon Pinot Noir. With additional research, I found Total Wine has Primarius Oregon Pinot Noir for $13.99. So, I definitely could have done better at Total Wine. If this is too confusing, I apologize!
I like this wine and would not hesitate buying it again (at Total Wine). I found this wine to begin with the cherry, raspberry flavors but then move to a little dark cherry flavor. This is definitely a step up from Petiole and a great choice for a mid-week pinot noir. We paired it with chicken burritos on the first night and halibut on the second night. The wine is light enough to be very versatile.
SC Wine Joe rating = 88 points
1. It is labor intensive to grow the Pinot Noir grape.
2. Oregon levies a tax on wine production and the proceeds are used by the state for research in grape growing and wine making.
3. Oregon laws are more strict than other states regarding wine production.
4. Quality always costs more.
The problem is that most of us do not want to spend over $20 a bottle, every time we desire a glass of Pinot Noir. Here are two under $20 Oregon Pinots that I recently tried that make good weekday choices.
Petiole Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2017
In recent years, I have been hesitant to buy Trader Joe's wines, except for the Grand Reserve and Platinum Reserve offerings. A few months ago, I purchased 2 bottles of Vintjs Pinot Noir Willamette Valley and I ended up adding some of the second bottle to pasta sauce and the rest went down the drain. I shop weekly at Trader Joe's and I have an eternal hope that I can find an Oregon Pinot Noir for less than $10 that is drinkable and this week, I found Petiole Pinot Noir Willamette Valley. This wine is not new to Trader Joe's but it is new to me.
There is little useful information on the bottle except that it is 2017 vintage and the alcohol content is 13.5%. The producer is said to be Petiole but I would not waste any gas riding around Dundee Oregon looking for a winery by that name.
I poured a glass of Petiole and placed it next to a glass of Primarius and the Petiole is lighter in color. Unsurprisingly, Petiole has light flavors of cherry and raspberry but little of the black cherry and blackberry flavors found in more expensive Oregon Pinot Noir. The finish is medium long and there are not a lot of tannins. However, there is some complexity here and this performs much better than expected for a $8.99 bottle of wine. You will not confuse this for a $30 wine but I was impressed with the value/price found in this bottle.
SC Wine Joe rating = 87 points
Primarius Pinot Noir Oregon 2015
Primarius is Precept Wine's label for Oregon wine. Primarius Pinot Noir is from the Oregon AVA, so some of the grapes may be from the Willamette Valley but a portion is from elsewhere in Oregon. Since it is only an Oregon AVA wine, it should be priced lower than most Willamette Valley AVA wines. I found it at a local wine shop for $15.99. In 2016, I found Primarius Willamette Valley at Costco for $11 and since the Willamette Valley version should be more expensive than the Oregon version, I think I may have overpaid for the wine. On the other hand, I did not like the Willamette Valley Pinot Noir but I liked the Oregon Pinot Noir. With additional research, I found Total Wine has Primarius Oregon Pinot Noir for $13.99. So, I definitely could have done better at Total Wine. If this is too confusing, I apologize!
I like this wine and would not hesitate buying it again (at Total Wine). I found this wine to begin with the cherry, raspberry flavors but then move to a little dark cherry flavor. This is definitely a step up from Petiole and a great choice for a mid-week pinot noir. We paired it with chicken burritos on the first night and halibut on the second night. The wine is light enough to be very versatile.
SC Wine Joe rating = 88 points
Comments
Post a Comment