Pinot Noir # 15 & 16

Pinot #15 was tasted on Friday, June 23.  It was mid-afternoon, and I had nothing planned for the rest of the day, had been swimming, meditation & and yoga and so I thought what better way to relax into the day than have a nice glass of Pinot Noir.  Sometimes I crack myself up.

2016 -Meiomi- Monterey, Santa Barbara & Sonoma counties- 13.7% alcohol- price originally $24.99, on sale for $16.99, corkscrew. My thought was maybe delving into the mid-range Pinot’s I would get a better tasting profile, you know the whole, the more you pay the better it is, philosophy.  I was kind of excited when I poured it as it had a medium color depth, which most of the Pinots I have been tasting have been very watery, or pale.  It was garnet in color and the aroma intensity was moderate.  Another good sign, I could actually smell something without straining my nose muscles (not sure that is medically possible…), the aroma reminded me of a salty beach, which is a good smell for me.  There was a medium sweetness to the wine, medium tartness, low tannins, good balance and moderate flavor intensity.  The first taste was slightly tart on the sides of the mouth with a berry tongue and I liked the woodsy mushroom finish.  I was hopeful.  The first glass was not bad, in fact a little enjoyable.  When my husband came home he wanted to get out of the apartment, so we went to my daughter’s house so he could meet her new puppy and we ended staying for about 3 hours, playing a really fun game.  Thinking to myself, that Pinot was not that bad, I’ll have a glass before turning in.  It was definitely much tarter, with cranberry notes.  I did not finish the glass.  I did try a little the next morning and the tartness was overwhelming.  I gave this a 3 star, because it would be good to share with friends for one glass each, or for someone who really likes a lot of fruit in their wine.  And that is probably why I am not really finding a Pinot to suit me, because they are fruit forward and I just don’t like tart fruits.

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Pinot#16 was tasted on Sunday, June 25 and much more enjoyable, so much so that I drank about three quarters of the bottle, over a 6 hour period mind you, but still, that is pretty good for me.

2015- Josh Cellars- Central Coast- 13.5% alcohol, original price $19.99, sale price $13.99.  I did not have grand expectations for this wine as it was watery, ruby in color and clear in clarity.  I have been there before.  I do have to say though, when I opened the cork, I could smell it.  For a Pinot Noir, it was very aromatic, smelling of cedarwood, slight berry, almost like a rhubarb pie before you cut into it.  This wine had a medium sweetness, medium body, medium tartness, surprisingly medium tannins, it did state on the bottle description there was some oak, although it did not say for how long, balance was fair and as far as the flavor intensity, flavorful.  The first taste had rose petal on the front, tartness in the middle, and a smooth, long finish.  The flavor did stay in my mouth for quite a long time.  The second taste was much better, I loved the upfront, not so much the middle because of the tartness, but again the finish was nice.  I had some sea-salt and black pepper potato chips with it, and they seemed to take away most of the tartness.  As the evening wore on, I only tasted a slight tartness, I do not know if it was because the wine was sitting in the glass, or it was the 2^nd and 3^rd glass.  I gave this a 4.5 star out of 5.  I could drink this wine again and my taste buds would not be mad at me.  I would pair this with a food that was heavily seasoned as the wine would not interfere with the food.