90 Plus Cellars Lot 111 Pinot Noir – A Lot To Love

Pinot Noir from Monterey, California.

SRP of $15 and available for as low as $11. (Source price of $20.) 7,000 cases produced. Sample submitted for review.

From the bottle:

“Story: This beauty comes from terraced vineyards scattered about Monterey’s hills and valleys where the cool Pacific air settles in the evening. Like a well-pampered child, this Pinot Noir likes to play all day in the summer sunshine and then sleep with the air conditioning on. This is one amazing Pinot for the price.

Taste: Aromatic strawberry, raspberry and cranberry aromas coupled with a little earth and cedar. The wine’s flavor is satisfyingly simple with a taut texture and a juicy finish. This is a simple pleasure Pinot that you can feel good about popping open anytime you’re in the mood.

13.9% Alcohol”

Today we’ve got the first of several wines we will be reviewing from 90 Plus Cellars whose business model is based on going to wineries with a history of producing quality wines (usually those rated 90 points or higher) and buying their oversupply. They then put their own 90+ Cellars label on it and sell it for a fraction of the price, all the while never disclosing the original producer. It’s a model that made a lot of sense during the economic downturn but we had doubts whether it could continue once things turned around. We’re happy to report it is still going strong and the wines are as good as ever.

You may also remember that we included the 90 Plus Cellars Wine Club in our Ultimate Gift Guide for Wine Lovers a few weeks back. Today’s Pinot Noir was one of the excellent wines included in the sample shipment we received. In fact, I enjoyed that shipment so much that if I could only sign up for one wine club, this might be it.

Find all of our 90 Plus Cellars picks here.The 2013 Ninety Plus Cellars Lot 111 Monterey Pinot Noir begins with pleasant, classic Pinot Noir aromas of strawberry, cola, raspberry and a touch of rhubarb. The light to medium-bodied wine features similar, but juicy, flavors in the mouth plus really nicely integrated spice. Darn tasty, this is just a great example of an affordable Pinot Noir. A nice bit of oaky spice comes to the front on the dry finish along with more juicy black cherry and strawberry fruit.

See a listing of local retailers selling this wine here.