Table of Contents
The Story
The Pinot Project 2018 is a $10.99 Pinot Noir from Costco, it is also available at Trader Joe’s and most other wine retailers. This is a wine label from Skurnik Wines and a Pinot Grigio, a Chardonnay, and Rose’ are other wines in the project.
Skurnik Wines is a major wine importer (they also have domestic wines). Here is a link to their website showing their portfolio. They have some interesting wines that are well worth checking out.
The Pinot Project 2018 is sourced from vineyards in the Central Coast, Monterey, and San Benito are mentioned and the North Coast, Suisun Valley is named. The Suisun Valley is southeast of Napa near the San Pablo Bay.
Twenty percent of this Pinot Noir “sees” French and American oak. What “sees” means is ambiguous, oak barrels, oak staves, oak powder? I guess we will see or with no ambiguity, taste.
Nothing about the production details for The Pinot Project stands out. But with value-priced wines, it is often the skill in the winemaking that makes all the difference. That is something technical notes never tell you.
Wine Enthusiast magazine gave The Pinot Project 2018 91 points and a Best Buy rating. I am not particularly swayed by wine ratings, but I do respect the reviewers and expect them to be able to identify a quality wine. The alcohol content is 13.5%.
The Pinot Project 2018 Tasting Notes
The color is a see-thru garnet red. The nose is cherry, spice, herbs, black pepper, and plum, a pretty solid Pinot Noir aroma. This is a smooth and silky Pinot Noir, but with an edge.
It tastes of black cherry, light exotic spice, and mix of sweet and slightly rough herbs, and a hint of dark chocolate. The mid-palate shows orange zest, tart cranberry, a touch of cream, and black pepper.
It’s funny the tasting notes for Pinot Noir always sound like a complete mess, but the actuality is that Pinot Noir often tastes incredibly good.
The Summary
- If you are looking for a value-priced, well-made Pinot Noir, The Pinot Project 2018 is a good place to start.
- It has tons of the funky Pinot Noir flavors the I love.
- It isn’t one of those ethereal, ghostly Pinot Noirs that I love, it has more body, more heft, but it does have excellent flavor.
