Villa Mt. Eden Pinot

[Innkeeper]

1999 Villa Mt. Eden, Coastal, California, Pinot Noir ($9.99). Have been hearing all sorts of wonderful things about this wine for over a year. Respectable commentators have used such terms as "best value in a pinot" or "best value in a wine." Problem was, I couldn't find it anywhere, or forgot to look for it in the right place. Did pick up a couple of bottles in Fall River, MA on our most recent trip. Popped one of them last night. Now, I would like to get on the bandwagon.

Villa Mt. Eden winemaker, Mike McGrath, also puts together excellent upscale wines for Mt. Eden, but he still carefully crafts this one from grapes from Santa Barbera, Monterey, and Sonoma valleys for we mere minions. The wine is a living statement of why we need a Coastal AVA. To have to label it with the California AVA is a travesty.

Approaching the wine, one gets a strong impression of cherries. It has a dark cherry color, unlike the medium ruby of most pinots. Then you get fresh red cherries on the nose and the tongue tip. You experience full body (13.5%) with dark cherry fruit, along with lovely complexity and even earthy nuances, and silky smooth tannin across the palate, and a happy, lingering finish. Matched delightfully with garnished sauteed ham slices in a brandy/wine cream sauce.

It is very unusual to get the full varietal experience of pinot, such as Columbia Crest Grand Estate Cabernet does for cab, in a wine at this price point. They both telegraph to you exactly what to expect several price points up the chain. The Villa Mt. Eden definitely lives up to its hype.



[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 09-24-2001).]