Product: 2000 Castle Los Carneros Pinot Noir: Solid as a Rock Producer: Castle Vineyards Approximate Retail Value: $24 Category: Wine Country of Origin: USA/California Reviewer: SexHerald Staff The F Words: Flavor – Plums with a bit of spice. Feel – A bit “in your face” with a jam-like feeling. Finish – Long with a hint of raspberries.

Rating:

Of all the pinot noir wines made in California, I think the most consistent quality comes from the Carneros Valley. On the northern part of San Francisco Bay, it is at the southern end of the Napa and Sonoma valleys. Carneros gets both wind and fog, and it has become one of America's best cool-climate growing areas. These attributes make it an ideal place to grow pinot noir, a grape that is finicky to manage but when harvested and fermented well, it can be extraordinary to taste.

For over 25 years, Vic McWilliams and Castle Vineyards have been producing great wines from his 40-plus acre, family-owned vineyards in Los Carneros and Sonoma Valley. Each wine is carefully handcrafted, in small lots using old-world techniques. Their 2000 Los Carneros Pinot Noir is one of the shining stars in their product line. I love the strong feel of this wine; it's not over-extracted or over-oaked (like many California wines). The flavor is very fruit-driven, which makes for great food pairings with wild game, steak or pork. It has a really nice long finish to it with a hint of raspberries, a nice alternative to the many cherry-flavored pinots.

After you open the bottle, let it breathe a bit, have a good nose from the glass and take a full sip. Savor this wine and you’ll know why the Gold Medal Wine Club chose the Castle Pinot Noir as a selection in their Premium Series, which only features wines rated in the 90s by the major wine publications, multiple Gold Medals from competitions, pre-releases and exclusives.

Other expressions in the Castle Vineyards portfolio include Viognier, Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, Merlot, Zinfandel, Late Harvest Viognier and Port (made from Syrah). This bespeaks a wonderful Pinot Noir from a boutique vineyard that will always bode well for friends and family. At $24 a bottle, you may want to save it for special occasions.