What if your next supermarket wine find had a secret story hidden in its cork? That’s exactly what happened when I discovered the Mark Hill Pinot Noir at Aldi. This episode unfolds the curious tale behind this $7.99 wine, crafted by the giant Trinchero Family Estates for Aldi, and the unexpected twist of a Menage a Trois cork inside. Was it a simple bottling mishap, or does this budget-friendly Pinot share more with its cork counterpart than meets the eye? Join me, Dave from CheapWineFighter.com, as I untangle the mystery and savor the budget-friendly yet surprisingly delightful flavors of this intriguing bottle.
Explore the world of affordable wines with me, and find out what makes the Mark Hill Pinot Noir a worthy contender for your next cozy night in. With its fruit-forward notes of spice, cherry, and plum, this Pinot is a charming companion for comfort foods like tacos. While it may not boast the depth of pricier wines, it’s a smooth sipper that promises more than just an intriguing origin story. Whether you’re a wine enthusiast on a budget or simply curious about the quirks of wine branding, this episode promises an entertaining journey into the nuances of affordability and quality in the wine world.
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0:05
welcome. It's a domain dave. Again cheapwinefightercom with another wine review, like always, like we've been doing for a while now, a long while now and this one was a wine. Actually, I picked it up at aldi. Aldi hasn't had too many new wines lately and I saw one and I grabbed it, and it's called the mark hill pinot noir. Cal California Pinot Noir 2022, I believe, which is a little bit older. For a $7.99 wine. It's got a little bit of age to it.
Speaker 1:
0:34
One thing that caught my eye is that the label looks a lot like Mark West Pinot Noir, which is made by E&J Gallo, and it's not an Aldi wine. The color and the general shape was like that. Okay, what's going on here? And I? So I pick it up and turns out that, uh, chinchero Family Estates, which is a huge wine company and they have 50 different brands of spirits and wine and all that kind of thing. They're a large one and have a bunch of labels. You know made this wine for Aldi, so okay, so the Mark West thing doesn't really matter because Chinchero is a completely different company. So I pop the top on this wine and it's got a Menage a Trois. Cork Menage a Trois is one of Trinchero Family Estates' wines. So that adds another thing. Why is the label like Mark West or kind of reminds me of Mark West? At least it's not that it's Trinchero. And now I got a cork that says Menage a Trois, which is a label that's been around a long, long time.
Speaker 1:
1:50
The Ménage à Trois label originally was the value price label for Fully Dew, I think it was. They're now part of a bigger wine conglomerate, but whatever three red grapes they had left over, every year they put them together and that would be the three grapes, the menage a trois, the interplay between those three grapes. Nowadays, like menage a trois wines might have seven grapes in there. They kind of that old way of doing things is gone. But does this mean that and it's entirely possible that the Mark Hill Pinot Noir, which is the Aldi one, was using the same bottling line as Menage a Trois and someone just forgot to switch out the corks Menage a Trois and someone just forgot to switch out the corks. Or is this the same wine as Menage a Trois and someone forgot to? And again someone forgot to. They switched the label but they didn't switch the cork. I don't know. I mean not, and plus I'm not really going to go into. I'm not going to buy a Menage a Trois Pinot Noir just to check it out, because I'm not that crazy about Menage a Trois wines. I don't dislike them, but they're fully due wine. That brand is a step up and that stuff's legitimately good. That wine, those brands, I like.
Speaker 1:
3:16
This one, eh, I don't know, I mean Menage a Trois, but so what's up with the Markel? It with the Markel. It's actually not too bad. It's $7.99. It's fruit forward. It's got some real Pinot Noir things going on.
Speaker 1:
3:32
I'm going to take a sip. Got the spice, it's got the cherry. It's got plums, maybe black cherry more than tart cherry. It's a little bit more rounded, a little bit nicer, maybe some stone fruit, not super complicated, but it's not bad at all.
Speaker 1:
4:01
What's in your glass is actually very, very sippable. You know, like pinot noir can be one of those wines where every sip is a different experience. And now this isn't it. But it's also $7.99 and that experience you don't get for $7.99. That's usually in the more expensive bottles, very much more expensive bottles. But when you you're paying um eight bucks for supermarket wine, you want a one you can drink, and you can here, and this is perfectly good to pair with um comfort food tacos. I mean nothing too heavy. Yet you know, maybe uh barbecue with a lot of uh barbecue sauce on it might be a bit too heavy for this one. But it's got 13.7 on the alcohol, so it's not a light wine but it would work for a lot of different foods. Plus, it just sips well. It doesn't cost much, it's easy to drink. So there you go.
Speaker 1:
4:59
So why does it have a Mark West, to me inspired label? I don't know. Why does it have a Mark West to me inspired label? I don't know why does it have a Menage, a Trois cork? I don't know, it doesn't matter. It's $7.99. It's a Pinot Noir that's worth drinking and taking another sip. Here you go. If you see it, buy it. If you like an inexpensive Cali Pinot Noir, $8 is a good price and this one does well. It stands on its own. It doesn't need the Mark West or the Menage, a Trois relationship or anything. It does fine. So there you are. So that's it for me. Domain Dave CheapWineFettercom. Like us where you like your podcasts or whatever, push the button. I got more wines coming, so I'll be talking to you in a couple of days. Adios, keep it cheap and like always, keep warm and safe.
