Castle Rock Monterey Pinot Noir 2006

This is a wonderful wine, which really opens up--recommend decanting immediately. Very smooth, nice fragrance. Drinks well alone or with a meal.

February 2008

Connoisseurs' Guide rating: 89

This Pinot Noir is produced from grapes grown in Monterey County along the Central Coast of California, where the climate and soil quality provide excellent growing conditions for this Burgundian varietal. Here, the cooling air from Monterey Bay helps to produce a longer growing season for grapes, with extra hang-time on the vines leading to a characteristic depth of flavor in the wine. Castle Rock Monterey Pinot Noir is elegant and medium-bodied, offering aromas of cherry, tea and herbal spice. On the palate, the wine gives flavors of black cherry, plum and spice. It is smooth with a silky texture read more...and mild tannins. This versatile food wine pairs well with lamb, chicken, veal, salmon and light pasta dishes. Although we are fully aware that Monterey is a fine home for Pinot Noir and that there is plenty of the stuff planted there, we could not but help asking how do they do it? when we tasted this one and then looked at the price. With the definition and depth of wines costing up to several times its price, it exhibits keen and concentrated black-cherry fruit with highlights of cola and dried flowers, and it is at once both fleshy in feel and very light on its feet. It trades high extract and bluster for precision and balance and comes up a big winner for it. -Connoisseurs' Guide Good Value    (hide)

Loads of light fruit and hints of things stranger. I get hints of cola and things that hint toward orange. Either way it is certainly elegant and silky. Were this a Cabernet I would likely rate it much lower but a Pinot at this price that you can enjoy is a rare find. Guessing you can spend 4x as much and still only beat this one half the time. If you are a Pinot fan grab it!

March 2008

No written review

November 2007

No written review

August 2007