2010 Calera Central Coast Pinot Noir: QPR Alert?

When Wine Spectator dropped a 93 point rating on the 2010 Calera Central Pinot Noir it was a second validation that this bottling has become one to be reckoned with in the California Pinot Noir value spectrum.

The 2009 vintage was rated 92 points by the Wine Advocate, and combined with its modest $24 release price and relatively high production levels (around 10,000 cases) the wine seems destined to join the likes of Siduri and Loring as perennial Pinot value plays.

I was just browsing through the Wine Spectator rating database and man...I had a hard time finding a 93 point California Pinot Noir for $25 or less. I had to go back into the early '90s to a time when Pinot was in its infancy in California and producers were just getting started with the grape to find a Pinot this affordable and highly rated.

But when you're buying by the numbers you're hanging your hopes on one person's palate. In the case of Wine Spectator that's James Laube who has a reputation with some for preferring ripe wines - and he states as much in his tasting notes for the wine: "very ripe but still complex". [Spectator online subscription required]

If we consult the wisdom of the masses we currently see a Cellar Tracker community rating for the 2009 at 89.1 and the 2010 is currently averaging 90.3.

If we run these metrics through the WWP QPR Calculator (what's that?) we get a 2.5: A Very Good value.

The wine is also referred to as the 35th Anniversary Vintage - and there's some confusion and duplicate entries on Cellar Tracker for sure. But there's no special bottling to seek out. If you're buying the 2010 Calera Central Coast Pinot Noir you're getting the wine that Spectator rated 93 points. Here are my thoughts on the wine:

2010 Calera Central Coast Pinot Noir [35th Anniversary Vintage]
$24 Release Price
14.9% Alcohol
7,688 Cases Produced

Primary [very] ripe plum notes mug the otherwise nice Pinot characteristics lurking in the background. 14.9% alcohol (up from 14.2% in 2009) and it shows. The wine clings heavily to the glass and there's heat at the backend of every sip. An instantaneous aerator the first night and an evening of rest under stopper didn't help accelerate the aging process. Will this be better with time? I wouldn't count on it. But for $24 retail it's a decent wine I guess. I just can't see my way to 92 or 93 points.

88/100 WWP: Very Good

Where to Buy


In Massachusetts:
Elsewhere: Search on Wine-Searcher.com in your state

Question of the Day: Have you had this wine? If so, what did you think?


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Nadine Velazquez Naomi Watts Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Portman

TMiW 1 ? Looking Back, Looking Forward

This is the premier episode of This Month in Wine, a monthly discussion about what is going on within the wine world from a consumer and insider perspective. Hosts: Tim Elliott and Jeff Lefevere Topics What?s up with Good Grape? Is wine blogging on the decline? Wine Trends & Predictions for 2012 Value Replaces Cheap [...]

TMiW 1 – Looking Back, Looking Forward originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Lake Bell Larissa Meek Laura Harring Laura Prepon

Rasa Vineyards: Preview of Fall Releases [Wow! Alert]

Founded in 2007 by brothers Pinto and Billo Naravane, Rasa Vineyards is a bona fide Washington wine superstar. Their beautiful winery is located south of downtown Walla Walla near the Washington/Oregon state line. Billo serves as winemaker and Pinto as managing partner, but the brothers collaborate on every aspect of the business. They both have [...]

Rasa Vineyards: Preview of Fall Releases [Wow! Alert] was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

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LeAnn Rimes Leeann Tweeden Leelee Sobieski Leighton Meester

$25 for $50 at Daily Wine Deal site Lot18

Deal site Fab.com is offering $25 for $50 at daily wine deal site Lot18.com. Buy through the link below and get $10 off your first Fab.com purchase bringing the price down to $15 for $50 of Lot18 credits:

http://fab.com/cqei73

Fab.com sign up required.

Lot18 runs free shipping offers quite frequently, and they're shipping more wines to MA than they used to. Check it out!


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Rachel Nichols Rachel Perry Rachel Weisz Radha Mitchell