Pinot Noir is near and dear to my heart. My Father is a big fan of Burgundy wine, which is really the birthplace of pinot noir. My first exposure to wine was with him and was a French pinot noir. One of the coolest things pinot noir grapes is their versatility. A lot of its taste depends on where it is grown. It is like the ninja of wine grapes! Okay not really, but now you are picturing grape ninjas, right?
Today we are not reviewing French pinot noir. We are actually talking about an American wine. So, California, right? Something from Napa or Sonoma? Actually no, we are talking about Oregon pinot noir. Yes, Oregon makes great wine! Willamette Valley in particular makes some truly excellent wines. Many have described them as 'Burgundian.' That is wine snob, *cough* I mean, connoisseur for good pinot noir. Wine out of Willamette Valley tends to be a bit pricier, however, it is still a lot less expensive than Burgundy.We are going to talk about Primarius Oregon pinot noir (2014). Primarius is latin and roughly translates as distinguished or first in in rank. That is pretty gutsy name to give something!
Today's wine, is a blend of pinot noir from vineyards around Oregon. Maybe this is why we can enjoy Primarius for around $15. Price aside, I really enjoyed this wine. It is a medium bodied, fruit forward wine. What do I mean by fruit forward? When you do the cool wine glass, swirl thing, (you know you love the way swirling a glass of wine makes you look!) you will immediately smell the red fruit and berries (think cherry). It is also the first thing you will taste. It's like being hit over the head with cherries (but in a good way). I don't mean to suggest this is a 'sweet' wine. It doesn't taste like someone dumped a bucket of sugar in your glass. There are red berries, but it is balanced by something else on the nose and the taste. I will be honest, I struggled for a second to figure out what it was. I kept coming back to one of my favorite descriptions of wine. One of my uncles used to describe some of my Dad's wine as 'pinoey.' That needs to go into more reviews. This wine is pinoey! But seriously, I think what I was smelling and tasting was cloves and maybe even herbs. I will stick my head in my spice drawer and try to confirm that! But there is an interesting tartness to the wine when you first try it. It evens out with some time in the glass, but it reminds me of tart berries. This is a nice smooth wine. I think the wine term might be silky, but I have trouble saying that with a straight face. The taste of cherries stays with you, which is nice.
Here are the main points:
1.) Cherries
2.) Cherries
3.) Clove/herbs (subtle)
4.) Cherries
5.) Smooth
6.) Cherries
7.). Pinoey
8.) Cherries
If you like cherries, this wine was made for you!
I give this wine 4 grape ninjas out of 5.
I would love to hear from you! Have you tried any wine from Oregon?
What is your favorite pinot noir?
