Reserve St. Martin Vin De Pays D’Oc Pinot Noir 2007

In honor of the feast of St. Martin de Porres, this Sunday’s wine is Reserve St. Martin Vin De Pays D’Oc Pinot Noir 2007.

I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t know anything about French wines. The appelations confuse me, the vintners are inscrutable, and the taste (in my opinion) often leaves something to be desired. But I was in a hurry, and this was a featured wine placed strategically at the front door of my local shop. For $7.99, it fit my budget, and made for a quick trip, helping me to avoid the otherwise bewitching aisles of hundreds of different wines, which typically lure me in like a kid in a candy shop and refuse to let me go.

This Pinot Noir from the south of France fits the profile of other French wines I’ve had. It has round, soft tannins, tart red cherries on the nose and palate, and an otherwise mild flavor profile that leans pretty far in the sour direction. To my uneducated palate, this reminds me of other wines I’ve sampled from France – notably young Beujolais or even Cotes du Rhone.

It’s a pleasant enough wine, and certainly drinkable, but it’s not memorable for me. Keep in mind, I prefer wines that tie your tongue up in knots while they punch you in the face – big, bold reds with crisp tannins or fruit forward reds with juicy, luscious, dark fruit that drips down your chin. This wine tends more toward whispers and caresses than hot, passionate displays of flavor affection. If that’s your style, it might be worth giving a try.

(I’ll upload a picture of the label when I get a chance.)

Rounding out our Sunday afternoon snack was a nice baguette from Balducci’s, Drunken Goat Cheese (pleasant and mild as goat cheeses go, with some nice herbal components) and some Columbus Dried Italian Salami, which was really excellent.

My wife and I often say that wine, baguettes, cheese and cured meats are the kind of things we could live on indefinitely. There’s nothing better.

Some Other Wines Worth Trying For Under $10

Having had these before I got the bright idea of blogging them, I have no tasting notes for them. Hopefully, as finances permit, I’ll have a chance to revisit them and give more detail:

Mirassou Pinot Noir 2006 – I’m new to Pinot Noirs, but I am really beginning to like them. As they go, the Mirassou stands out as different, with a more mellow, rounded flavor and fruit-forward character. When I first tasted this, it reminded me a bit of the Milton Park Shiraz 2006. I picked this up for $6.99 at Costco, which is a screaming deal. In the grocery store, this can run you anywhere from about $8 on sale to $12 at full price.

Mirassou Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 – The link takes you to a description of the 2004 vintage, but I believe the one we tasted was a 2005. On sale for $7.99 at the supermarket, I picked this up to pair with some roast beef we were having, and it was good. Like the Mirassou Pinot, this is a softer, gentler version of Cabernet, lacking the strong tannins and dry character that I’ve come to expect without failing to deliver entirely. It was a nice wine, and one I’d drink again, but if you’re looking for a nice palette cleansing Cabernet this one isn’t really big enough. (For an excellent mid-range Cabernet Sauvignon, I recommend the J. Lohr Paso Robles from 2004 if you can find it, or from 2005-2006, which weren’t quite as good when I had them, but are still extremely enjoyable. These will range $12-$17 depending where you find them, and we have traditionally picked them up only for special occasions like Easter.)

Big Tattoo Red 2006 – I was in a hurry one night to come up with some vino when I got home and found out Jamie was grilling ribeyes which were almost done. I jetted down to Red White & Bleu, since it’s the closest place to the house, and they recommended this wine when I told them I needed something from the bargain rack. It’s a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon & Syrah (Shiraz), which are two of my favorite red varietals, so I went with it. At $9.99, it was a couple bucks more than I wanted to spend for a weeknight wine splurge (we usually try to limit our wine consumption to Sundays and special occasions to keep costs down) but those stakes were calling my name and begging me to bring home a red-headed friend. Dark, ruby red to be precise.

I was pleased with this one at first. It’s big and bold, and the grapes are South American in origin (Chile? Argentina? Can’t remember) which tend to exhibit a large, powerhouse in the mouth feel and taste. It paired well with our dinner, but I noticed that as the meal wore on, it was a bit rough around the edges. The strong tannins, acidity and spice were a bit much on their own, but the flavors were well balanced and I’d be willing to give it another go, especially if I could find it for cheaper.

Mark West Pinot Noir 2006 – After a tasting at Whole Foods and a free gift card from Ford for filling out a survey, I decided to plonk down some not-earned cash on a bottle of good Pinot. It’s been about a month since I’ve had it, so I can’t tell you much, other than that it had a nice, semi-dry character, a bit of (if I remember correctly) smoky oakiness, and a nicely balanced, mellow fruit character that if you pressed me, I’d say tended toward cherries. I also know that I paid $11.99 for it at Whole Foods (wouldn’t have if I didn’t have the $15 gift card) and that I just saw it for $8.79 at Total Wine & More. Will try it again.

Antis Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 – Whole Foods must have gotten a huge shipment of this stuff, and one Sunday while I was looking for something inexpensive I happened upon it. On sale for $6.99, I brought it home and enjoyed it. It was well balanced, but not memorable enough to give you tasting notes until I try it again. If you see it, I think it’s worth the sale price but probably not more than that.

Milton Park Shiraz 2007

I didn’t grab a picture or tasting notes because we had company, but I had my first bottle of Milton Park Shiraz from the 2007 vintage on Sunday.

I mentioned in the past what a steal the 2006 was. I have mixed feelings about the 2007. First, the price has gone up $2 to $9.99 a bottle, no doubt in part due to high demand for this excellent value wine. (I imagine that the falling dollar plays a role here too.) Secondly, what I loved about the 2006 (and the 2005 before it) is that it was an atypical Shiraz, in that it was lacking a strong spice character and had soft tannins and only a hint of acidity, leaving nothing but lush, dark fruit on the palate. It was jammy, ever-so-slightly sweet, and evokative of plums, concord grapes and blackberries.

The 2007 vintage has grown up, and has lost it’s stand-apart character. The taste has grown less fruity and more complex, with a characteristic Shiraz spiciness, and a smoky woodiness as well. These flavors are not at all uninviting, but were not what I have come to expect from this wine, which was remarkably consistent in the past. I want to revisit it when I have time to sit down and really pay attention. Its new flavor profile makes you want to slow down with it a bit over the previous incarnation, and take your time savoring the sophistication.  My wife said she thought it tasted young, but I disagree. While I have little doubt that it will mellow a bit over the next year or so, it’s quite drinkable now, and remains my favorite red in the $10 and under category (which is, for budgetary reasons, usually the only price rage we drink.)