Pinot may not be for me

I am “Pinot Out.” Ever since the movie Sideways, Pinot Noir has been some of the highest costing wine in the market. Not long ago, I spent some time travelling through the Willamette Valley in Oregon. It certainly is a beautiful place. Actually “absolutely gorgeous” is a better description. Some of my favorite places are in the Dundee Hills just 20 miles south of Portland. With several dozen wineries to choose from the place is worth a trip BUT you better like Pinot Gris or Pinot Noir. That is all they grow there. After two days of tasting and enjoying the beautiful sites I would have given up my right arm for glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

I don’t dislike Pinot Noir but I don’t really like it either. Frankly I find most of them thin and just not very exciting. If I just offended you then get a grip. It is all a matter of taste after all. I prefer heavier wines with more “muscle.” Give me a tannic Cabernet or a jammy Zinfandel or Syrah and I am in heaven; but a Pinot Noir... well... no so much… I gave it all I had by going to about 20 wineries in two days and then drinking more Pinot Noir for dinner and lunch from wineries that I couldn’t get to. After that trek, I was Pinot Out. My last day for dinner, I had a blend of Cabernet and Zinfandel for dinner… delicious.

As I mentioned, most Pinots I tasted were thin, very thin. A bit of metallic taste on most of them (they told me it was terroir). All I can say that it must be a lot of Zinc and Iron under the valley. But as with anything in life there were some exceptions. Archery Summit has two incredible Pinots but at $85 for one and $150 for the other they are out of reach for me and most of you. The great surprise was Domain Serene and their Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir. This is a Pinot I could drink every day and at $58 per bottle it is a bit pricy for my wallet but reachable. The rest of the Pinots I tasted I am told that they are good and the critics may agree but I will stick with my Merlot.