2002 Joseph Faiveley Bourgogne
Faiveley
Nuits-Saint-Georges, France
$13.99
www.bourgognes-faiveley.com

After so many ordinary bottles of French “Bourgogne Rouge” it’s easy to see how a pinot lover can become skeptical. There are SO many uninteresting wines of this sort, often priced at sums that could purchase seriously good American pinot noir, that it is understandable how many could dismiss this category as unworthy of investigation. Yet, Faiveley is different, for here is a venerable house that is both serious producer AND grower of Burgundy: these folks have a reputation to maintain! It shows.

2002 Faiveley Bourgogne Rouge is a transparent garnet red in the glass showing color balanced between full and light extraction. Faiveley’s nose was soft and elegant, characterized by red fruits and light spice. At first, it offered scents of strawberry and leaf while after some aeration black tea and anise emerged. The use of oak was barely at threshold for this taster. Fresh flavors of tart cranberry and cherry were lean and well-balanced with refreshing acidity. Throughout its drinking, I was amazed at how polished Joseph Faiveley Bourgogne was considering its modest price. In fact, Faiveley may just have redefined the price/value ratio as this wine is extraordinarily good for the money!

In the end, Faiveley’s 2002 Bourgogne is an aromatically interesting and very well-balanced pinot noir. This pinot noir is significant for the money illustrating what can be done with basic Bourgogne-level wine when made by the hands of a skilled winemaker and vineyard manager. Maison Faiveley has certainly preserved their good name with this remarkable wine. Highly recommended!

2002 Véro Pinot Noir
Bourgogne
Beaune, France
Joseph Drouhin
$25.00
www.drouhin.com

Joseph Drouhin’s 2002 Vero Pinot Noir is yet another wine in the recent slew of French pinots that are varietally labeled and attractively packaged intended for the “New World” wine market. Joseph Drouhin is a very well-known and highly respected negociant and producer of Burgundy. This particular bottling is named after his great-granddaughter Véronique Drouhin, winemaker for Domaine Drouhin Oregon, and is packaged with a chic and minimalist label. I had the pleasure of meeting Véronique last October in Oregon at the family’s beautiful hillside winery in the Red Hills of Dundee. Her father Robert and mother were busy taking must samples as I quickly walked past on my way to the men’s room. I was a bit awestruck by their presence but with my French limited and my need to visit the bathroom pressing…well I think you understand.

2002 Vero Pinot Noir is simple and straightforward to a fault. This pinot noir has very little to offer and though traditionally made is not very interesting. In the nose the wine is strawberry fruit with some Brettanomyces and dusty oak. God love a little “brett” character when a wine lacks real mojo! Vero’s palate is lean and light and best suited as a quaffer with dinner. Trouble is, I can think of other French pinot priced far less that I would much rather drink with my mid-week meal. Forget about uncorking this wine on the weekend for this pinot would surely disappoint: it is far too simplistic given its price-point.

In fact, when considering Vero’s posted retail price it becomes painfully obvious that Vero Pinot Noir represents very poor value indeed. Luckily, this pinot had been given to me so with its uncorking I did not suffer any financial loss, only an acute sense of frustration as I searched for something more interesting to have with dinner. Not recommended!

2003 Castle Rock Pinot Noir
Monterey County
$9.99 (discounted $2.00)
www.castlerockwinery.com

I bought this bottle of Castle Rock Pinot Noir in hopes that things the second time around would somehow be different. You see, the first time I tried one of their pinot noirs was about nine months ago when I had their Carneros bottling. I was very unimpressed by that pinot; I found it to be too ripe, raisined and cloying in fruit quality. However, the Monterey County pinot noir I had last night faired far worse: it was hard to get beyond the first glass and impossible with food.

2003 Castle Rock Monterey County Pinot Noir is a deep cherry-red in the glass while to the nose the wine is spicy oak, cherry juice and strawberry jam. This pinot IS the proverbial fruit bomb! Castle Rock’s texture was jammy, slightly tannic and astringent. In fact, this pinot was only marginally more pleasurable to the nose than to the palate. This pinot noir tastes very manipulated and I would not be surprised if it had been heavily acidified with late additions of tartaric acid creating the bitter astringency with which it is plagued.

In the end, Castle Rock’s Monterey County Pinot Noir was undrinkable and in no way indicative of what Monterey County pinot can and should be. Unfortunately, due to a wine glut which has persisted these last five or so years, California is awash in bulk wine and phantom wineries such as Castle Rock (perhaps you too have noticed a new label each week case stacked in your favorite retailer?). I strongly suspect Castle Rock is buying bulk wine for pennies on the dollar, possibly from good producers bulking-out their mediocre lots, and bottling this under specific appellation labeling to increase the wine’s cachet. Based upon my experience, whether from Carneros or Monterey County, Castle Rock Winery does not deliver a pinot noir worth the price of admission. Not Recommended!