Selecting inexpensive American Pinot Noir presents a minefield of challenges that pretty much illustrate everything wrong with the way we do inexpensive wine in America. Big promises/small results, marketing that relies more on selling a price than the wine inside the bottle and wines that taste more like an attempt to please a focus group than something representing a place and a vintage prompt us to taste carefully and sharpen our pencils when evaluating this tricky category.
Fortunately, we're more often finding real quality and value, especially in the California Pinot Noir space. And we'd love to say we're getting better at this game, but the truth is that the economy is tight, competition among wineries is fierce and your vinous bang-for-the-buck has rarely been better. The 2023 Norton Ridge Central Coast Pinot Noir is a perfect example of what we can now expect in this space: the nose immediately announces it's a pure Pinot, unsullied by excessive oak, and the flavors follow through with hints of spice, cola, raspberry coulis and a touch of mushroom. The alcohol is in check, the texture is way finer than what we expect from a $15 Pinot and there's a refreshing, long and pleasingly tart finish.