It seems like only yesterday that we couldn’t turn around without another higher-end Pinot Noir producer hitting us with some crazy deal on a seriously good bottling at a greatly reduced price. Actually, it wasn’t that long ago that the COVID-19 pandemic closed restaurants and gave producers a sense of urgency in finding homes for their wares. The market is slowly returning to some sense of normalcy now and, in fact, is starting to swing the other way thanks to the California and Oregon wildfires that are beginning to cause serious gaps in the supply chain moving forward. For that reason, labels like this have much greater relevance for those looking for authentic, value-priced Pinot Noir.
As we have made the point on many occasions, Pinot Noir is a fussy grape that doesn’t respond well to the kind of increased crop loads it takes to produce at lower price points. To that end, producers and ‘negociants’ often beef up the ‘value’ Pinots with other varietals (Syrah, for example) to give the wines deeper color and more punch. The downside is that it often results in the wine losing a bit (or a lot) of its varietal identity. Maybe we’re purists, but when we’re looking for value Pinot, one of the main requirements is that they taste like Pinot. Something like that is harder to find than one might think so when we find something that fits the bill, we’re pretty pleased.
Mignanelli Pinot Noir 50/50 Grand Appellation 2019 is our latest discovery in this limited category. Their ‘program’ highlights ‘all the right stuff. Dry-farming single vineyards, hand harvesting, sustainable farming, native yeasts, whole cluster fermentation and minimal additions are all part of their stated mantra. This is certainly our first experience with this value bottling, with the ‘50/50’ speaking to the blend of two distinct and respected Pinot Noir appellations, Santa Lucia Highlands and Santa Cruz Mountains.
The ‘marriage’ seems to work well here with the classic macerated strawberry fruit of Santa Cruz playing nicely with the intense cranberry/cherry fruit and chunky demeanor of the Santa Lucia Highlands. There’s intense Pinot character here and surprising freshness and purity, particularly given the very modest price ($11.98). We hadn’t seen the winery before and, frankly, wonder how they are going to continue this kind of quality/price performance at this kind of fare given the wildfire-affected market over the next two years. But we are on board for as long as it lasts. Delicious, honest Pinot, super value.