Now, go get me some crackers.
What we drank: Casillero del Diablo Pinot Noir '09
What is Pinot Noir you say?
Pinot Noir is responsible for some of the greatest wines on earth - the exhausted red wines of France's Burgundy region. Pinot Noir is a notoriously fickle (I said fickle...hehe) grape that expresses its origins like no other. It's a vine that needs to struggle to produce great wines but when it does the depth of flavors that range from cherry to cola can be explosive and the wines' bright acidity and gentle tannins make them approachable and widely appealing.
I was referred to this wine from the guy at the wine store who dawned a significant mustache. If I'm perusing the isles at a local liquor store, I'm going to put an inappropriate amount of trust into a guy with a furry lip. I told him that I'm looking for a decent priced Pinot that is not too fruity and has some body and depth. He immediately pointed me to the Casillero del Diablo.
I drank the wine with a frozen Newman's pizza. That's right - I ate a frozen Newman's Margarita pizza with this wine. Deal with it. So, the wine had ripe red fruits like strawberries and raspberries and some subtle notes of spices and touches of toasted French oak. It had a more fruit-forward flavor than I thought. A nice fresh and flavorful, medium-bodied and fully textured mouth feel. This wine had a good balanced acidity and a pleasant, long and persistent finish.
Would I drink this wine again? Maybe. Would I bring this to a dinner party in which I didn't know the owners? Yes. Would I take a bullet for this wine? No.
