The Rural Mendocino Pinot Noir 2023 is a wine available at Costco for $13.99. It is an excellent price, as most internet retailers charge between $29 and $25.
The Story
Rural Mendocino Pinot Noir is a label from Masüt Vineyard and Winery, which is operated by the Fetzer Brothers in the Eagle Pass AVA near the Russian River in Mendocino, California.
The Fetzer Family started the Fetzer Winery in the 1950s, until they sold out to a South American wine company and had to lay low due to a non-compete clause.
In 1994, they started planting the Masüt vineyard, growing top-notch Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
The Rural brand is their more affordable Pinot Noir. The Masüt vineyard is organically farmed and situated in the Eagle Pass sub-AVA. The Rural Pinot Noir bottle makes no mention of organic grapes and shows Mendocino County as the place of origin.
This can be an organic Estate wine; the label can simplify things, but it can say more than it can back up.
I speculate that they used some Estate grapes and purchased grapes from Mendocino vineyards to keep the price affordable.
The Rural website is not up to date, but older information indicates that oak barrel aging, along with on-lees aging, is used. The information was several years old, so I can’t say more.
The alcohol content is 14.0%
The Rural Mendocino Pinot Noir 2023 Tasting Notes
The color is garnet red. The nose is red berries, black pepper, herbs, a hint of smoke, and plum. The Rural Mendocino Pinot Noir 2023 has a firm mouthfeel and an interesting array of flavors.
This Pinot Noir tastes like black cherry, exotic spice, and tobacco leaf, as well as vanilla, cranberry, herbs, and pomegranate.
The tannis are smooth, and the acidity allows the flavors to fully unfold.
The Summary
- The Rural Mendocino Pinot Noir 2023 is a quality Pinot Noir at an outstanding Costco price.
- This is a very tasty, real, not dumbed-down Pinot Noir
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