Ever wondered why a single store might offer two wines that seem almost identical? Join Domain Dave as we uncover the intriguing strategy behind Aldi’s wine trademarks, specifically focusing on the 2022 William Walker Monterey Pinot Noir. Discover how this $8.99 gem stacks up against its predecessor, the William Wright Pinot Noir, and why Aldi’s switch from Sheed Family Vineyards to Plata Wines might just change your wine-drinking experience without hitting your wallet harder. With a sensory journey that explores everything from the wine’s see-through appearance to its burst of vibrant flavors, we promise you’ll walk away with a newfound appreciation for store-brand Pinot Noir.
Get ready to indulge your senses with a lively discussion that touches on the distinct coastal charm of the Monterey AVA, known for its cool, long growing seasons that Pinot Noir grapes crave. Delight in the unexpected yet tantalizing mix of black cherries, spices, herbs, and mushrooms that might sound odd but taste like a symphony in your mouth. Whether you’re a seasoned wine enthusiast or just looking for a wallet-friendly bottle that doesn’t skimp on personality, this episode might just introduce you to your new favorite go-to wine. Tune in to find out why this accessible yet flavorful Pinot Noir deserves a spot on your wine rack.
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0:05
Hey, welcome. It's Domain Dave from CheapWineFindercom. Again another wine review, like we always do, this time's for a Aldi wine and I'll explain it. I don't know much about the wine stuff to taste good. It's the william walker monterey pinot noir 2022. If william walker sounds familiar, if you're used to aldi wines, is because they used to have, or maybe still do, a william wright monterey pinot noir 2022, and this was 8.99. I think that was too 2022, and this was $8.99, and I think that was too.
Speaker 1:
0:49
So why do they need two Monterey wines with just a little bit different names? The previous one, I think it's previous. They could be doing both at the same time. The previous one was the William Wright and it was produced for Aldi by Sheed Family Vineyards. They're an organic producer, pretty large one, pretty good one, out of Monterey, and they owned the trademark on William Wright. Now the William Walker Monterey Pinot Noir.
Speaker 1:
1:23
The new one is produced by Plata Wines and Plata Wine Partners, actually PWP, and they're out of Napa but they control 60 plus vineyards and 18,000 acres of vines. They're another big one and William Walker trademarks owned by Aldi. Aldi seems to like to own the trademark on their wines. So if they have to, for whatever reason, like a contract ends, they're not getting the quality they used to get. Prices are starting to go up and they don't want to pay higher prices a whole bunch of reasons why you would change it. But they can just have somebody else make the wine. So the William Wright seems to be going away and the William Walker is here, so I don't know much about them. Um Plata makes a lot of wines. They have made wines for trader joe's, they've made wines for aldi before. Like I said, with uh 60 plus vineyards and 18 000 acres, they make a lot of wine for everybody. And this is a. You know.
Speaker 1:
2:35
Monterey is a pretty good place, you know, and monterey ava is large and for pinot noir the high-end vineyards are very high-end, wines are very much of a place and a huge AVA is sort of a place, but not enough for spending $80 on a wine. But what's good about it? It is a lot of coastal areas. Pinot Noir likes cool weather and there is a spot off the Monterey Bay that is the coldest area in the entire Pacific Ocean, so that keeps the winds cool and it keeps the vineyards cool and it keeps the growing season long, which is what Pinot Noir likes and also Chardonnay. Noir likes and also Chardonnay. There's a William Walker Chardonnay from Monterey that might replace the William Wright Chardonnay from Monterey. I can't imagine why they'd keep both. But there you go. So I'm going to taste this because it's a $9 store brand that's around every year. It's one of those wines brand that's around every year.
Speaker 1:
3:45
It's one of those wines that you don't pay a lot of attention to, but if they're good, that's really nice. So here we go. First of all, it's see-through. You can pretty much read anything you want to read while looking through your glass, which is kind of nice. For Pinot Noir they're supposed to have that light. I mean they don't have really thick skin so you don't get that deep color.
Speaker 1:
4:07
I'm gonna take a sip. The nose is kind of classic california pinoir. It's kind of like good ripe fruit and those funky, fresh flavors and the taste tastes nice. I mean it's. It's a. It's got nice fruit forward, black cherries, it's got black pepper and it's got spice. It's got herbs and mushroom, all those things that you kind of want, those little weird flavors.
Speaker 1:
4:37
When you go, I don't think that sounds good. Until you taste it, you go. I want more. It's got that and it's not the deal. That's not. That doesn't have the most depth or complexity in the world, but you're paying nine dollars for it and it's a store brand that you can pick up while you're getting two dollar bread. You know it's like or what all the things are. For the dupes of Girl Scout cookies that Aldi has.
Speaker 1:
5:02
Go take another sip. It's a thoroughly decent Pinot Noir, california style Pinot Noir, 14.2 on the alcohol, which is a little bit heavy but it doesn't really come out in the palate. Got some nice spiciness to it. It's got a few of those like those mushrooms and that kind of thing going on, and black pepper and some spiky things and orange zest, all those kind of cool things that Pinot has, plus the ripe flavors pomegranate it's a tart cherry. It's pretty good. It's the William Walker, not the William Wright.
Speaker 1:
5:42
Monterey Pinot Noir 2022. It's got a little bottle age on it or some kind of age. I'm not picking up a lot of oak in it, but that's still fine with me. It tastes good. So, adios, keep it cheap. We've got more wines coming up. Because it's the holiday season, there's not a lot of new wines out there and I think I'm going to try to put a lot of our sparkling wines that we've done in the last year and put them all on one page so people can kind of check them out before they go out and see if they can find some bargains. With bubbly we did a $25 GH Mum Grand Cordon earlier so it kind of killed any champagnes because none of them could play with that. So I've got more wines coming in a couple of days. So, adios, keep it cheap. All these new wines. Good, and this is Domain Dave. Keep it cheap, stay warm, and I'll be talking to everybody in a few days. Bye-bye.
