Yao Ming Retires

It hasn’t been often that I’ve either written about sports in this space as of late, or frankly updated this blog. That has a lot to do, of course with being largely responsible for writing our official company blog over at Uncorked Ventures. While I certainly enjoy the work, it isn’t easy to write two [...]

Source: http://winewithmark.info/archives/649

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Value Alert: 2009 Ninety Cellars Pinot Noir Lot 47 Reserve

The day after I tasted this wine I ordered a case. To give you an idea of how rare that is, I haven't ordered a straight case of any wine since 2005.

I've tasted over 100 different Pinot Noirs this year and the 2009 vintage from California has been a winner - more on that in this tasting report. I was leafing through Spectator's Wine of the Year issue last night and their crowning of a Cali Pinot Noir felt like a statement that California Pinot Noir deserves attention in serious wine enthusiasts' rotation.

90+ Cellars is a Boston-based company whose business model is to take finished, bottled wines from producers with a pedigree of 90 point ratings and deliver them to consumers at a fraction of the cost of the original label.

Their selections have come from all over the world. Their "Reserve" designation tends to be assigned to wines with a higher price point and esteem than their regular label - but their wines rarely exceed the $20 retail mark. This wine is available at retail for around $15 and I think it would fool a lot of people in a blind tasting of $40-$60 wines. Ample production should make this relatively easy to attain.

My Notes:

2009 Ninety+ Cellars Pinot Noir Lot 47 Reserve
14.5% alcohol
$17.99 (compare to $27.99)
2,400 Cases Produced

I think our friends at 90+ have caught lightning in a bottle with this one. Confusingly similar to Sanford on the low-end and Sea Smoke on the high-end. Utterly delicious.

Perfect floral/fruit-driven SoCal Pinot aromatics are the first things I noticed followed up by a satisfying experience on the palate. This one will sell out in a flash. I'm curious who the producer is. Fantastic stuff. Wow.

92/100 WWP: Outstanding

For more information or to purchase this wine directly from 90+ Cellars visit their website. I'll look forward to comparing notes.

Sample for review.

Question of the Day: Have you tried this wine? If so - what did you think?


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Talking about influence, elitism and wine

On a highly unusual day in London recently I was lucky enough to be interviewed twice on similar topics – the coming together of wine, blogging and some measure of influence. This blog, in large part thanks to its longevity but also some very active and loyal followers, regularly appears on lists of “top wine [...]

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The Best in Wine Bottle Foil Cutters: Vacu Vin Arch

Over the years, we?ve tried just about every foil cutter on the market. Most of them either didn?t work well at all or had a short working life before one of the pins popped out. Fortunately, last fall when perusing the new Wine World Warehouse in Seattle, we came across the Vacu Vin Arch foil [...]

The Best in Wine Bottle Foil Cutters: Vacu Vin Arch was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

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Changing critic, changing styles?

With yesterday’s announcement from Robert Parker that Jay Miller will be leaving The Wine Advocate, five wine regions will be getting new reviewers for the publication. David Schildknecht is a thoughtful, erudite, thorough reviewer with a tremendous knowledge of the regions he covers. The one time I met him, he held forth on not only [...]

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Wine Shield: A Simple Idea That Works

Preserving an open bottle of wine is one of those things wine lovers don’t talk a lot about. For many of us a bottle is not open long enough for the exposure to air to spoil the wine. But there are those times when you open a special bottle or, in my case, 4 or [...]

Wine Shield: A Simple Idea That Works originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Petite Sirah Celebrates 50 Years As A Varietal

I have been on this planet for a shade longer than a half century since my birthday this past November. But there is a wine variety that I think is underrated that has also just turned the big 5-0 as a varietal, Petite Sirah. I even included this grape in a rough draft of my [...]

Petite Sirah Celebrates 50 Years As A Varietal originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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