by Ethan Johnson
November 26, 2006
The holiday weekend is over, the family/guests are gone, the dogs are back from the kennel, and it's time to plain chill. Let's kick back with some:
Producer (Vineyard): Robert Mondavi
Varietal (Grape type): Pinot Noir
Vintage (Year): 2005
Country: USA (California)
Color: Red
Cost: Inexpensive ($10 USD)
Swirl and Sniff: Purply, foamy red. Sniff-wise, it was hard to pin down, but there were flashes of some sort of berries (not cherries) here and there.
Taste: I wish I were a bit more wine savvy, because I could describe the sensation of wateriness right on the edge of each sip. Faint acidity, as well as tannins. Not much "grip", which led to a fairly quick and forgettable finish. At times, it reminded me of Petite Sirah, minus the purple-mouth side effects.
Pairing: I drank this after dinner. It was an okay chill-out wine, and I assume it would pair with whatever goes with Pinot Noir these days.
Rating: When it comes to this wine, I would (and you may):
- Buy three or more bottles for regular enjoyment
- Buy a bottle or two for occasional enjoyment
- Ask for when dining out or at a party
- Settle for if your preferred wine is not available
- Politely decline and never drink again, ever
Mmmm, this is an "okay" wine, and one that might satisfy a wine jones here and there on the relative cheap. Especially at a party, I'd imagine. The wine is light enough that people don't need to fuss over it much, just knock it back and do other things. Personally, I'm not inclined to keep any on hand unless I'm needing party wine on the relative cheap. Then again, I trust that I could do better (or worse). Try it for yourself and draw your own conclusions.
As an aside, I was going to serve this as my back-up bottle of red for Thanksgiving, but my primary bottle was apparently such a turn-off that nobody wanted wine for the remainder of the evening. I suspect that this should have been the primary. You are thus advised.
If you do give this a try, please let me know how your experience compared with mine. Thanks! <EM>
(The Totally Unpretentious Wine Reviews Index may be found here.)
This is one of my favorite inexpensive wines.
It pairs well with most dishes.
At parties, or out with large groups, both the 2004 (about $15/bottle) and this 2005 are excellent choices. My local wine store sells the 2005 for as little as $6/bottle when on sale.
I try and keep a bottle or two on hand as backups if we happen to go through more Pinot at dinner than I had expected.
I have always been a fan of the higher end Mondavi wines (they are where my obsession with wine started) so I may just be partial to Robert Mondavi wines and have a skewed opinion. I try to be fair all around however.