Pinot Noir & Viognier

[Mary]

I'm a bit of a neophyte here. I have been doing a lot of wine tasting (yea for me), and have come to find that Pinot Noir and Viognier are my favorite grapes. Don't cringe here - I have joined a handful of wine clubs for Napa wineries and of course don't get these varietals from them.

I would love suggestions on good producers for these lovely grapes. Please bear in mind, I don't have an enormous budget for this stuff, which I know is tricky when buying Pinot Noir... Thanks in advance!

Mary

[melkor]

Pride makes a great Viognier.

[Brad Ballinger]

Pinot Noir - Domestic nods go to Evesham Wood and St. Innocent (both Oregon). Burgundy nod goes to Montille's Volnay wines (to keep in your price range).

Viognier - I haven't found anything domestic that does it for me. From Condrieu, I like Villard's wines.

I'm sure you'll get a lengthy list from all the people who will respond.

[redwinegulper]

I find it difficult to give recommendations for these two grapes.

On the lower end some people have recommended RH Phillips & Zaca Mesa for Viognier.

Meridian for Pinot Noir

None of these are favorites of mine. What I would recommend, if practical is to go to a wine bar...fun, and you don't need to buy a bottle. After much gulping, you will find some you like. If you live in NY, email me and I can give you tons of wine bars to go to

Ed

[Carolyn Tillie]

There is a huge caveat for wine clubs.

...there is a general instruction given to all pourers to sell wine clubs. There is a ton of money in wineries to expand their wine clubs. Heck, last year interviewed with a VERY large, corporate winery for a job that would involve me making cold calls 80% of the time, just to sell wine clubs! (Okay, it was STERLING!)

When I pour on weekends, I advise guests that before they join any wine club (from any particular winery), make sure they actually LIKE more than 75% of a winery's offerings.

When I first started getting into wine, I joined a bunch of wine clubs. I quickly found out what a huge mistake it was. I might have liked a winery's merlot or cabernet, but then the months' offerings would arrive and I'd get crap. A lot of wineries send out in their club's offerings stuff they can't sell in the tasting rooms. The winery I work for works a bit the opposit: we actually offer the BETTER wines to the club members first, before it hits the tasting room.

Lastly, you didn't indicate where you live. There are a number of Pinot-only tasting that occur throughout the state in California. I am like you and appreciate a number of them including Patz & Hall, Schug, Loring, Gundlach Bundschu, and Robert Sinskey.

[GordonCooks]

If we're talking Domestic Wines on the low to moderate side - I enjoy Argyle, Adelsheim, Loring, David Bruce, Sinskey, Chenhalem, for Pinots. For Viogniers, maybe Hogue or Colombia?

[dlc]

I agree with the sentiments of Florida Jim regarding the Lindemans 2001. I have had a case of this already and for $6 its a steal. See hereand here

Edited January 29, 2004 by dlc (log)

[Florida Jim]

I'm a bit of a neophyte here. I have been doing a lot of wine tasting (yea for me), and have come to find that Pinot Noir and Viognier are my favorite grapes. Don't cringe here - I have joined a handful of wine clubs for Napa wineries and of course don't get these varietals from them.

I would love suggestions on good producers for these lovely grapes. Please bear in mind, I don't have an enormous budget for this stuff, which I know is tricky when buying Pinot Noir... Thanks in advance!

Mary

Mary,

The Lindemen's Bin 99, Pinot Noir that dlc mentions is in most major markets and should always be less than $10.

Can you give me an idea of where you live; some things are easier/harder to find depending on your market?

Best, Jim

[Mark Sommelier]

I'm sorry that I have nothing to add. I only buy the top end examples of these wines. For viognier, the Californians to look for are DuMol and Alban. For pinot noir, I like Littorai, Dumol, Paul Hobbs, and Keller Estate.

[Wilson]

We dined at Mistral in Seattle in December, and were served pinot noir (2001 Santa Lucia Highlands) by Arcadian, a small winery near Monterey. My complaint with most American pinots, especially the Oregon pinots, is that the fruit is just overpowering. Arcadian's pinot is more balanced, and I liked it enough to have ordered a case shipped to me.

Arcadian Winery

[mikeycook]

For California Pinot Noir, I am partial to Saintsbury (Carneros).

[Wilson]

Speaking of Saintsbury, did you ever visit the Carneros Alambic Distillery down the road from them? The place is closed now, but while they were going they made some incredible brandy. I was really sorry to see them fail. They made a great product but didn't promote it. I wonder if there any left anywhere. I mention it because I found the place on a visit to Saintsbury. It was late in the afternoon and we were the only visitors to Saintsbury. The guy poured us samples of the brandy and said you really ought to go over there. Thus began a long love affair with their product. They were owned by Remy Martin, and I had thought this would give them staying power. Oh well.

Edited January 30, 2004 by Wilson (log)

[rshorens]

I was looking for a budget Pinot Noir and tried Parker Ranch(made by Fess Parker)Pinot Noir- it cost $10 at a local wine store and was quite good.

Roz

[rshorens]

I also second the recommendation for Saintsbury "Garnet" Carneros Pinot Noir- we had it tonight with loin lamb chops and it was excellent. My local wine store sells it for $13.99 a bottle.

Roz

[Mark Sommelier]

I was lucky to just receive some Condrieu "Coteau de Vernon" , Domaine Georges Vernay 2002. This wine is, in a word, stunning. Elegance and finesse are the main characteristics. The floral bouquet is beautiful, the oaking is very slight. Not cheap, but a great example of great viognier.