Reverse Wine Snob

Wine doesn't have to be expensive to be good

  • About
  • Aldi® Picks
  • Costco® Picks
  • Trader Joe’s® Picks
  • FREE GUIDE
  • Insider Deals
menu icon
go to homepage
Get Our Free Guide
search icon
Homepage link
  • FREE GUIDE!
  • Insider Deals
  • Best Of Lists
    • - Costco
    • - Trader Joe's
    • - Aldi
  • About
  • The Rating System
  • More Helpful Links
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir - Smoooooooth

    By: Jon Thorsen Published: February 22, 2011 Last Updated: December 15, 2016

    IMG_3600

    Smooth, smooth, smooth!

    Exclusively from Costco comes the 2008 Willamette Valley Vineyards Barrel Select Pinot Noir at $16.99.

    From the bottle:

    Pinot Noir grown in the Willamette Valley Appellation is among the highest quality of this variety in the world. Our mission in growing cool climate varietals is to create elegant, classic, Oregon wines from the Willamette Valley Appellation. All of our vineyards are certified sustainable - LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology) and Salmon Safe. Pinot Noir, a thin skinned winegrape, develops a natural defense against botrytis (mold) in our moist, cool climate - the antioxidant resveratrol.

    This wine has been very popular at my Costco, in fact, they have had trouble keeping it on the shelf. I decided to give it a try it after overhearing employees talking about how it was the third time they had to restock it in one day! In addition, this wine can only be found at Costco. When I asked Willamette Valley Vineyard about this wine their reply was that "We have the Barrel Select Pinot Noir in Costco......this wine is only available in Costco and you cannot find it on our website as it is not for general retail sale."

    My guess is that this is an entry level wine for them designed to get Costco buyers to move up to their more expensive wines after trying this one. That strategy may very well work, because we liked this wine a lot. Smooth is the best word to describe it. This wine is very easy to drink -- it might be lacking a little bit of complexity as a result of the smoothness, but that's about the only bad thing I can say about it. This is a wine that I think everybody would like. 2008 was supposedly a very good year in Oregon for Pinot Noir, and it shows here. This just the second wine we've reviewed that has gotten a 9 ranking in taste.

    One other side note, the label also includes a bunch of technical data which is pretty cool. It lists details like soil type, grape info, harvest date, temp, amount of resveratrol (3.5 Micromolar), and type of oak. I'd like to see more wineries do this. And for those interested, the level of resveratrol in this wine, and all pinot noir and other cool climate wines is quite high.

    IMG_3594

    See a listing of local retailers selling this wine here.


    Taste Rating: 9             Cost Rating: 4
    Overall Rating: 7.8

    Recommended Buy


    1 Rating - Add Yours!

     
     
     
     
     

     

    i
     

    All ratings use a simple 10 point scale with 10 being the best. Find out more about my rating systemhere and check out the Interactive Wine Ranking to find all my reviews! You can sort by type of wine, cost, rating, etc. in the interactive spreadsheet.

    Filed Under: Costco, Oregon, Pinot Noir, Thanksgiving

    << Alamos Malbec - Popular and Cheap
    Maybe it's because they weren't paying for it... >>

    About Jon Thorsen

    Author and independent wine consumer helping millions of people find great wines without breaking the bank since 2011. Sign up for my FREE GUIDE to learn how! Read more about me...

    Reverse Wine Snob Insider Deals Header Square

    Limited Time offers with amazing discounts just for our readers.

    Don't Miss Out!

    About Reverse Wine Snob

    Wine doesn't have to be expensive to be good! Jon Thorsen is an independent wine consumer who has been helping millions of people find great wines without breaking the bank since 2011. If you're new to Reverse Wine Snob® sign up for my free guide and don't miss our exclusive Insider Deals! Read more about Reverse Wine Snob in the news and about me.

    Reverse Wine Snob Logo

    Join over 450,000 followers on social media!

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Get Our Free Guide! How To Drink Great Wine...Without Breaking The Bank

    Free Guide! How To Drink Great Wine Without Breaking The BankReady to start drinking the best wine of your life, and save money doing it? Sign up for our 5 Day Free Guide!

    Learn More

    Helpful Links

    • - Ask The Expert Series
    • - Browse by Variety, Region, etc.
    • - Buy My Book on Amazon
    • - Get Our Free Guide
    • - How To Choose A Good Bottle of Wine
    • - Insider Deals
    • - Insider Deal FAQ
    • - Printable Lists of Recommended Wines
    • - Ten Tenets of Reverse Wine Snobbery
    • - The Rating System
    • - Wine Tasting Basics

    • - Advertise
    • - Contact Info
    • - Submit Samples for review

    How To Drink Great Wine...Without Breaking The Bank

    Tired of wasting money on bad wine? Sign up for our Free Guide!

    No commitments, no spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

    Best Of Lists!

      • - Aldi Wine
      • - Best Pizza Wines
      • - Best Red Wines of 2022
      • - Box Wines
      • - Cabernet Sauvignon
      • - Chardonnay
      • - Chianti
      • - Costco Wine
      • - French Wines
      • - Italian Wines
      • - Malbec
      • - Merlot
      • - Oregon Wines
      • - Organic Wines
      • - Pinot Noir
      • - Red Blends
      • - Rosé
      • - Riesling
      • - Sauvignon Blanc
      • - Spanish Wines
      • - Sparkling Wine
      • - Syrah
      • - Thanksgiving Wines
      • - Trader Joe's Wine
      • - Vegan Wines
      • - Zinfandel
      • And Many More Best of Lists

    Reverse Wine Snob®: Wine doesn't have to be expensive to be good.

    Copyright © 2011–2023 · Reverse Wine Snob, LLC. | Privacy, Editorial & Advertising Policy