Maybe it’s a sign of the times, but it seems like many oenophiles these days are paying closer attention to value and price.  Those people who attended our Sanely Priced Bordeaux and Sanely Priced California Cabernets tastings, both designed to meet an increased quest for value, were well rewarded by discovering delicious, affordable bargains.

For this blind tasting, we attempted to do the same thing for Pinot Noir-based wines, setting an upper price limit of $80, then putting on our walking shoes (well, not literally) to find the best Pinot Noirs available within this range.  Our final selections came from California, Oregon, Burgundy, even New Zealand.  We felt that each wine in the tasting was capable of delivering an exciting and sensuous Pinot Noir experience for $80 or less.  To keep things fair and square, our lineup was composed entirely of wines from the widely available (and successful) 2006 vintage.  

While none of the 15 wines tasted wound up in the “mind boggling,” upper 90s category, all attendees nevertheless found at least a few Pinots that they would like to drink again.  And that was precisely the intent of the tasting.  Our winning wine, Jadot’s sanely priced ($65) 2006 Volnay “Clos des Chênes,” proved to be sensational, almost single-handily justifying the price of admission.

The following are consensus tasting notes, written to share commentary and convey the overall impression the group had for each wine.  All wines were double decanted three hours before the tasting and were poured from numbered bags (1 - 15).  They are listed below in the order they were poured.  Participants were asked to vote (by number) for their three favorites.  We award three points for every first place vote, two for every second place vote, and one point for every third, allowing for ties.  Data is based on 14 voters.  Voting tallies: 1st/2nd/3rd

1) 2006 Morlet Family Vineyards “En Famille” (Sonoma Coast)  -  $80  -  4 points (1/0/1)  -  90 rating
Medium-light color.  Soft bouquet of sweet dark cherry and plum fruit with a little tobacco and new oak underneath.  On entry, we notice that this is not a weighty Pinot Noir, but we like the texture and mouth feel.  It’s a fresh, juicy wine, balanced, and sweet, although we detect some heat.  Consistent from start to finish, this wine offers superior length.  This was a pleasurable if not dramatic wine.  Nobody gets too excited.  Did we drink this bottle during a somewhat “dumb” phase?

2) 2006 Beaux Freres “The Beaux Freres Vineyard” (Ribbon Ridge)  -  $75  -  9 points (1/2/2)  -  92 rating
Medium saturated color.  Attractive, rich, fruit-filled, spicy bouquet which becomes even more spicy and smoky as it aerates.  This raspberry scented Pinot Noir leans toward the Burgundy style, and that is the prevalent guess among participants.  In the mouth, we’re hit with a wave of tannin, but beyond that, it’s a delicious, modern-style wine that causes participants to react positively.  It’s full-bodied, well textured and extracted, with superior mouth feel.  The acidity is lively, helping create wonderful length.  Two minor problems: it’s a touch vegetal in the nose and a little hot from the mid-palate on.  Will probably benefit from a few years in the cellar.  Good stuff!

3) 2006 Craggy Range “Te Muna Road Vineyard” (Martinborough, NZ)  -  $50  -  1 point (0/0/1)  -  88 rating
Medium saturated color.  Rich, sweet bouquet offers attractive cherry and raspberry fruit with a touch of wild, gaminess.  With aeration, notes of minerals, spice, smoke, earth, chocolate, and tobacco are added to the mix.  It’s also slightly vegetal.  First impression in the mouth suggests that this ripe Pinot has moderate weight and decent acidity.  It’s a modern, high alcohol wine that some tasters found coarse.  Fairly long, consistent, slightly hot finish.  Not too many fans of 2006 Craggy Range after downing this bottle.

4) 2006 J. Rochioli Estate (Russian River Valley)  -  $65  -  10 points (2/2/0)  -  92 rating
Fairly light color.  Lovely, sweet, fresh, perfumed nose starts well and continues to improve with aeration.  Scents of spice and smoke emerge to compliment the lush red berry fruit.  Wine #4 appears to be a modern style Pinot.  On the palate, we get tart flavors, decent acidity, and good grip, but hear a complaint that this wine could use more richness.  It’s juicy and clean, seemingly gaining in intensity as it sits.  The finish is particularly long and satisfying, although one person calls it “sneaky” and “manipulated.”  Everyone else really liked it.

5) 2006 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru “Lavaux-St.-Jacques” (Gérard Raphet)  -  $80  -  2 points (0/1/0)  -  91 rating
Medium-light color.  Rich, complex, sweet cherry nose with additional notes of coffee, tobacco, spice, and smoke.  On the palate, this wine seems tight, easily the most backward in the first flight of five.  We immediately like the texture, structure, and overall mouth feel.  Both the tannin and acidity levels are high.  The wood is well integrated into the mix.  Long, spicy, delicious finish.  Everyone nailed this wine as Burgundy.  Three to five years in the cellar should help this wine reach its full potential.

6) 2006 Marsannay “Les Longeroies” (Denis Mortet)  -  $60  -  1 point (0/0/1)  -  90 rating
Fairly dark color.  Lovely bouquet is ripe, sweet, and seductive.  In the mouth, this wine is youthfully unevolved right now, making it difficult to discern specific traits.  It’s sweet, balanced, well-extracted, and tannic, with good acidity.  Long, persistent finish.  This wine drew our interest with its aromatics but failed to follow through on the palate.  Needs a little time to settle down.

7) 2006 Privé “Le Sud” (Willamette)  -  $75  -  2 points (0/1/0)  -  89 rating
 Medium-light color.  Controversial bouquet makes for a lively discussion.  Most find the aromas pleasant, albeit light and muted, featuring sweet cherry fruit.  But a vocal minority detect notes of nail polish, acetone, and rubber that are obviously off-putting.  Everyone agrees that it’s better on the palate; rich, complex, youthful, and particularly well-structured.  This Pinot has impressive extract, but it needs time to evolve.  Long, consistent finish.

8) 2006 Ken Wright “McCrone Vineyard” (Yamhill Carlton District)  -  $50  -  4 points (0/1/2)  -  90 rating
Medium saturated color; slightly cloudy (unfiltered?)  Soft, easy nose doesn’t have a lot going on beyond spice, earth, muted cherry and cassis fruit, with a subtle vegetal note and some heat.  Sweet and tannic on entry with lively acidity.  Youthfully tight, wine #8 doesn’t have much in the way of elegance or charm at this point.  It’s a “New World” Pinot with very good mouth feel.  Some tasters rave about the wine’s “underlying potential,” although it’s somewhat “dumb” this evening.  Good length, turning slightly bitter and hot at the end.  Needs time to round out.

9) 2006 Volnay 1er Cru “Clos des Chênes” (Louis Jadot)  -  $65  -  28 points (8/2/0)  -  95 rating
Fairly light color.  Lovely, open, complex, ultra-smoky nose quickens the collective pulse of those assembled.  Notes of plum, black raspberry, and coffee.  Even better in the mouth; great acidity gives the wine vitality and lift.  This is a flat-out delicious wine, brilliantly made, and very expressive.  It’s a wine with terrific texture and perfectly ripe fruit.  Modestly tannic, wine #9 may age gracefully, but it’s so good right now, why wait?  Extremely long, balanced finish.  We were pleasantly shocked by how well this wine performed.  Now this is sanely priced Pinot!

10) 2006 Penner Ash (Willamette)  -  $50  -  5 points (0/1/3)  -  91 rating
Medium-deep color.  Attractive, open, ripe, smoky nose.  We love the spicy, red berry fruit.  Big, juicy, complex, and youthful on the palate; more interesting than the bouquet suggests.  We particularly like the wine’s structure and texture.  It’s tannic with decent acidity and impressive fruit extract, although we detected a faint vegetal flavor.  Still, wine #10 is consistent from start to finish, well balanced, offering length.  Not a blockbuster or dramatic Pinot Noir, the 2006 Penner Ash nevertheless was well received by our group.  Needs a few years to blossom.
 
11) 2006 Williams Selyem “Coastlands Vineyard”(Sonoma Coast)  -  $80  -  3 points (0/1/1)  -  90 rating
Fairly deep color.  Open, expressive, ripe, rich cherry-dominated bouquet with notes of rose petals, smoke, and minerals.  Surprisingly thick and heavy in the mouth; clearly “New World” style with lots of oak.  The room is divided: some find it “well made” and “sexy” with wonderful mouth feel.  Others call it “a hot, coarse Pinot lacking in finesse.”  We all agree that this is a sweet, tannic, jammy, youthful, full-throttle Pinot with good acidity.  Long, penetrating, somewhat alcoholic finish.  We wanted to like this wine more than we did.

12) 2006 Nuits-St.-Georges 1er Cru “Les Pruliers” (Henri Gouges)  -  $80  -  0 points  -  86 rating
Medium color.  Expressive, smoky, earthy nose offers pleasurable notes of minerality, leather, and tar to compliment the black raspberry and currant fruit.  But any good feelings created by the aromatics did not carry over on the palate.  This medium-bodied Pinot has a tart, green, under-ripe quality that stands out in a negative way.  While the acidity is excellent, this wine doesn’t have the depth or complexity to stand up to the competition.  It’s lively, but who cares?  Modest, bitter finish.  We hear: “weakest wine in the tasting.”  Hard to argue.

13) 2006 Peay “Pomarium” (Sonoma Coast)  -  $60  -  0 points  -  89 rating
Fairly light saturated color.  Soft, “easy” nose offers pleasant cherry fruit but little more to draw our interest.  It’s “New World” all the way, with plenty of oak and spice in the aromatics.  Juicy, jammy, mineral-laden, and full-bodied on entry.  It’s a clean, modern, red berry fruit-filled wine that, while pleasing, “...offers no class, distinction, or sense of terroir” according to one attendee known for his passion for traditional Burgundies.  His comments aside, there was nothing special about this Pinot, other than we marginally liked it better than #12.  Modestly long finish.

14) 2006 St. Innocent “Shea Vineyard” (Willamette)  -  $50  -  4 points (0/0/4)  -  91 rating
Very deep color, probably the darkest color of all 15 wines.  Unyielding nose never fully opens.  We get smoke but little delineation in terms of fruit.  Much more forthcoming and appealing on the palate.  This is a sweet, lush, modern wine that is hugely extracted and has lots of flavor.  Although quite youthful, we are struck by the density of wine #14.  The tannins are soft and the acidity is above average.  We enjoy the mineral and spice flavors in the background.  This Pinot cries for the cellar as much as any wine in the tasting.  Long, persistent finish.  Outstanding potential.

15) 2006 Amalie Robert “Amalie’s Cuvée” (Willamette)  -  $55  -  13 points (2/3/1)  -  93 rating
Medium-light color.  Open, attractive, sweet, clean, fresh, fragrant, refined, red berry fruit dominated bouquet.  Notes include cherry, raspberry, spice, minerals, and smoke.  Follows through nicely on the palate with elegance front and center.  This Pinot has wonderful acidity that effectively lifts the wine onto the dance floor.  It’s not a heavyweight, especially next to wine #14, but we are attracted to this Pinot because, like the proverbial porridge, it’s “just right.” This fairly sweet wine offers moderate tannins and perfect overall balance.  Long, persistent finish.  We like it!