2001 Queen of Hearts Pinot Noir

[dananne]

Santa Barbara County. 100% varietal fruit sourced from Lucas and Lewellen vineyards. Daniel Gehrs is the winemaker. I picked it up based on the Gehrs involvement, as my wife and I love his wines. This was a very nice P/Q ratio pinot noir, and varietally-true. Good, round cherry fruit on the nose and entry, with a touch of forest floor coming in midway. A little barnyard comes in on the finish. Nice texture, very fine tannins, good acidity. 13.7% alc.

Best $9.99 Pinot Noir I've ever tasted.

[dananne]

Strike that last comment above, as the 2002 is even better. Fantastic bottle worth three times more. Still $9.99. Still lovely. Bought a half-case immediately and will be back for another 6 in the near future. Look for it.

[TheEngineer]

Sounds great will do!

[jmcginley1]

I am going shopping tomorrow. This bottle just got added to the list.

[dananne]

Just wanted to say again that this is such a great bottle of PN for $10. If you can find it, you won't find a better one for the price. The '02 is in full-stride right now. Yum.

[robr]

I'm gonna look for it. It will be hard to beat the Cartlidge and Brown, but I'll give it a shot!

[Drivebycritic]

I recently tried the QoH Pinot Noir at a local wine shop. The wine host had just gotten it in and wanted those present to have a try. I was very impressed. For a young wine it has a superb nose. I can't wait to try this with some of my favorite pork recipes. The peppery spicy flavor is very pleasant. The finish is a little disappointing, but then again..it is a young wine.

[wondersofwine]

I usually get to Charlotte onece or twice a year. What wine shop had the Queen of Hearts? I may look for it next time I'm in town if I don't locate it closer to home.

[dananne]

Don't know where we were when it happened, but the '03 and '04 of this wine passed us by as we enjoyed '02s right up until last month. When we went to look for more, they had moved on to '05s. Still a dandy QPR PN, but not quite as dazzling as the '01 and '02. Opens like a young, juicy Beaujolais, but after some air it settles into a nice PN, with typical Santa Barbara Pinot characteristics. Tossed the bottle before noting alc., but this one ran us about $13 at a shop that runs a bit high in prices. Likely will be able to find it for closer to $10 elsewhere.

[dananne]

Had another '05, and the little bit of bottle age did the trick. This has all the characteristics that you'd expect of a Santa Barbara Pinot Noir when paying 3X what this goes for. Bright ruby in color, with a nose of cherry and barnyard. Gorgeous satin-like texture delivers those pretty cherry flavors, nice acidic balance, and a bit of crushed raspberry on the finish. Earthy, loamy elements balance the fruit. Great QPR at $12. 14.2% alc. Once again, this will be our house Pinot, and it is our clear-cut favorite at this price point. Anne was very enthusiastic and will be buying much more.