Pinot Noir

[newbie7069]

Right now I'm liking Pinot Noir. Here's my two faves:

La Crema
Clos du Bois

But I'm open to suggestions :lol:

La Crema also has a pretty good Chardonay!

I'm pretty new to the whole wine thing, so my experiance is pretty limited.

[admin]

New Zealand has some good ones, and also I like anything from the Willamette valley in Oregon.

[HadEnough]

and Petite Syrahs are close enough to get me by, weekdays. Pinots are expensive.

U.S. Pinots for less than $10. don't come close. There are a few in the $15.00range though, that are worthwhile like, Kendall Jackson.

But for 'special occasions',:wink: Davis Bynum 2003 is around $20.. I had a De Loach 2004 last night (around $30.) which was spectacular. Both of these are Russian River Calif. wines.

(I doubt though, that I'd pay $60.00, which would be a standard markup in a resturant, for it.)

I happen to live in an area east of San Diego which has just been declared a wine producing area, (appellation.) There are a few local Pinots & Syrahs for under $20 which are every bit a good as the North Coast wines which cost twice as much!:D (This situation will probably not last long.)

[admin]

You mean Temecula??

I'm going there for my birthday next month!!

[HadEnough]

Temecula. Ramona, which is west of Temecula up in the hills. (near Julian.)

We were just declared a Wine Producing region by the State. There are a number of wine producers and we are aquiring the rights to open (more) wine boutiques.

Currently, we only have two. That's not enough to entice many folk to come out here.

Consequently, our wines arn't very well known. But personally, I think that they're much better than any Temecula wines I've had. Not even taking price into consideration.

I'm extremely unimpressed with Temecula wines. Once, I got a selection of their 'best wines' from the Pechinga resort & I thought they were terrible! I don't see many medal winners either. We have lots of prizes.

[admin]

We'll try and make it up there when we go. I'll get more info from you closer to the time. Maybe we can all hook up - there will be about 10 of us.

[HadEnough]

We'll be happy to have you all.

I'll probably get a prize or something for bringing in 10 people!!'

FYI, it takes about 1 hour to get here from Temecula. Also, most of the wine tasting shops here are only open weekends. I'll find out what's available when I know your itenary.

You could make a pleasant day of it by getting here on the '76 through Julian. Julian's crowded on the weekends but, they have good resturants. (Unlike my town.)

Julian has a wine tasting shop but, they don't usually have local wines.

Ciao!

[admin]

Are they open on Fridays?

[HadEnough]

Are they open on Fridays?


There's 1 botique in Ramona that's open 7 days. Sometimes. I wouldn't recommend coming all the way here just for that one.

Advise me your exact prospective inenary and I'll find out definately which ones are open.

But, our botiques only promote one wine each. This one's wines are good but
they only have 4-6 vintages.

Some of the best 'deals' like (Pama Valley Wines) don't have tasting rooms at all. One of the best ones is Schwaesdall. He makes Zin ports, white ports and very interesting zin and merlot blends. He's only open on weekends. It really depends on when you will come.

For 10 people they might arrange a private showing. That's an option to consider.

I don't know about the tasting room in Julian. I only recommend that town if you havn't seen it. It's rustic but, usually you only need to see it once.

[admin]

If it's on the way in (we are coming from Phx), then we could stop in on our way to Temecula. Is it North, South, east or west from Temecula.

[HadEnough]

It would take you 'at least' an hour to get to either Ramona or Julian. And another hour from Julian to Ramona. It's all on windy, 2 lane mountain roads.

Julian's a tourist - resort town (more of a village actually) restored to it's 19th century look. The locals dress up in 'pioneer' dress, there are buggy rides.
I'm sure it has a website.

Ramona's 11 miles south east of the San Diego Wild animal park. I'd suggest the weekend for the Ramona wine experience. And then, I would suggest that we confirm they're going to be open before you come.

At our grower's meeting last night (you should go to one of those!) the head of Temecula's wine growers assocation spoke. Last year, Temecula got hit
by Pierce's Disease. They lost 1200 acres of grapes. They have 1300 left for this year. :(

[Sarafina]

I personally like the Chalone Monterey Pinot Noir (a bit less than $15) and Beringer makes a good one, too.

[Sangio]

... and also I like anything from the Willamette valley in Oregon.

you got that right. If you can find a bottle or case of J. Albins you should give it a try. To many other good ones to list.