Recently Tasted California Pinot Noirs are Dazzling
“Some people were put on earth to make life better.
These people are called winemakers.”
Along with the remarkable surge in number of California wineries over the past ten years, has come an equally
extraordinary increase in the consistent high quality of California Pinot Noir. It no longer is known as the
“heartbreak grape,” but rather the “joyful grape.” Pinot Noir is the wine winemakers want to make because
Pinot Noir has more to say than other wines.
My enthusiastic ramblings on Pinot Noir for almost sixteen years has led many others to discover the joyful
grape. One of my readers noted, “As far as what I am drinking, it’s Pinot Noir you bastard, and it’s your damn
fault. Now I empty my bank account at wineries nobody has ever heard of, on wines nobody has ever drank
except you, you pr**k. You ruined me…..and I love it.”
It is hard not to pimp Pinot Noir when you have the opportunity to sample the stunning wines such as those
reviewed in the following pages. Over the Holidays, give thanks to the dedicated winegrowers and winemakers
who make all this joy possible.