Sonoma Coast, CA, 14.5% ABV
$5 at the San Pablo, CA store
My first impression of this wine is that it’s startlingly pinkish purple for a Pinot Noir. From color, I would guess it’s a CA Malbec or something like that. On the nose, there’s candy of raspberry and cherry, but my next strong impression is how sweet the fruit is, quite candy-like. It takes about 70 minutes for the wine to fully air and show its full, ripe black cherry hinting at plum, red cherry and raspberry, and a hint of darker spice, with a mildly tannic finish. This is quite good wine for the money, but…
It’s not really what I like in Pinot Noir. The Pinot funkiness is almost entirely absent. The fruit is forward, medium-bodied but not textured. It lacks structure and delineation. This may or may not be your thing, so take this criticism with a grain of salt. It went very well with the salmon, bread, and Brussels sprouts. Given the longish airing time, substantial fruit, and soft tannic finish, I expect this could hold on well for a couple years more.
The magical world of wines from Grocery Outlet 
The highly regarded “Sonoma Coast” AVA makes some of the finest pinot noirs in California. So how did this wine sneak in at that price? Probably because the “Sonoma Coast” AVA is very ill defined and somewhat deceiving. True Sonoma coast vineyards are running north to south and only a couple of miles as the crow flies from the coast. But Sonoma coast also includes the Petaluma Gap, Rohnert Park and other equally far far from the coast vineyards. So, vineyard location is one of the primary factors in the price of a bottle of wine and this is reason number one for the low price of this wine. Next, the issue of the purplish color and abundant fruit. It is common practice in the wine industry to add other varietals to a wine just as long as the stated varietal on the label is at least 75%. It is also common for winemakers to add syrah to pinot noir to boost the color and fruitiness (blueberry) of the wine. Also, by adding syrah to pinot noir it reduces the cost of the wine which is reason number two for the low price of this wine.
So, how does this wine taste? As previous tasters commented, tastes very good! I would have to say that it is a real safe choice and most would be very happy with this wine.
Tried this one last night. I have been to the Callaway winery near Temecula and had several of their wines over the years; usually they go for a pleasant but low-intensity style.
On this wine, I largely agree with comments above. Seemed like there were no real flaws, but lacked anything that made it truly special- in particular, lacked that pinot noir perfume. For similar money at GO, I’d take the Sacred Hill NZ pinot if you can still find it.
Oh, and one more thing. The Callaway family has been making wine for more than 20 years. They started out in the Escondido area but moved out when the area vineyards were severely damaged by something or another. The pinots I’ve tasted over the years (always from coastal fruit) have been light and varietally correct and nicely priced but not exciting.
I’ve tried this wine too. The description above is pretty accurate, although I’m not sure about the comment about the color, which I actually thought was appropriate for a wine with this amount of body.. The wine is balanced nicely between fruit and acidity. I left the bottle for two days and found that the wine tasted better than earlier. If you are looking for a light bodied pinot with good fruit and no funk you should try this out.
Hi Robert! Thanks for weighing in. I had wondered whether a saved portion might develop further, but we drank all of it tonight (can’t be too bad). I agree about the nice fruit / acid balance.
I bought a bottle of this Pinot last month at the Aberdeen, WA GO and I finally got around to opening it. I’m posting my reply here because of all the follow-up comments, Robert’s comes closest to what I found. Here are my notes: Clear medium burgundy color—how appropriate! Very fragrant smoky black cherry aromas with a bit of hard candy quality; plenty of sweet, very varietal black cherry fruit; nice balance of tangy acidity and lightly chewy tannins; has many of the characteristics of Russian River Valley Pinots…albeit less complicated ones; I like it—especially for $6.00. I’ve paid far more for much lesser Pinots. And I’m heading back this weekend to the area where I bought it, so I’ll get a couple more.
Last weekend, I stopped at the Aberdeen, WA GO where I bought this Pinot in hopes of getting more. Sadly, it was all gone. Somebody must have liked it! : ~)
Good description – I was curious about this wine and now I feel like I know what I would be in for. I’m going to steer clear because of the “sweet fruit” and what sounds like a lack of structure. I was suspicious when I read on the label the connection to the owner of Callaway golf clubs. Whenever a celebrity or non-wine person’s name is attached to a wine that is always a red flag. It usually ends up being some flabby, fruity concoction or just plain bad (i.e. Dan Akroyd cab).
I just bought a slew of French Bordeaux’s from our new Gross Out in Atascadero, most for $10. If anyone is interested I’ll post reviews as I consume. The first was solid – not awesome but decent and worth it if you like the old world, dry profile.
Hi Expat! Please do post notes of these Bordeaux. I’ve shied away from them due to being overwhelmed by how they all showed up at once, and being unable to pick any out of the crowd. But of course I’m curious. 🙂