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Affordable Pinot Noir

Pipers Brook Vineyard via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

With Thanksgiving just a week away, we recommend putting Pinot Noir on the table. Here are three choices that are quite affordable.

Price key:  $=less than $20  $$= $20-40   $$$=$40-60  $$$$=above $60
Quality key:  * = decent wine   ** = very good wine   *** = superb wine   ****= elite
VALUE = exceptional quality for the money

Emerson Vineyards Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley '16  ** $
A nice everyday pinot that has the stuffing to stand up to a turkey dinner.

Reine de la Ville Pinot Noir, Ile de Beauté (Corsica) '18  ** $  VALUE
A little rustic, but the flavors are true and tasty, very nice pinot

Bench Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast '18 **1/2  $$
Al's go-to affordable pinot, everything you could ask for except a high price

All of these wines can be purchased at Kenilworth Wine and Spirits.

Click on the links for direct ordering and home delivery.

Note From Al Spoler

I've been waiting for this for a long time. The Maryland Wineries Association is launching a wine club that will make it easy for consumers to find out about Maryland wines and order them online. It's called Maryland Wine Explorer, and it should be up and running in mid-October.

Every month they are going to list up to 20 wines for sale, all produced by our Maryland wineries. You will be able to shop online and place your order. Thanks to new developments, they can now ship it to your door. All proceeds will be to the non-profit Maryland Wineries Association to support their programs. 

You can go to the Maryland Wineries Association website for more information: marylandwine.com.

Al Spoler, well known to WYPR listeners as the wine-loving co-host of "Cellar Notes" has had a long-standing parallel interest in cooking as well. Al has said, the moment he started getting serious about Sunday night dinners was the same moment he started getting serious about wine. Over the years, he has benefited greatly from being a member of the Cork and Fork Society of Baltimore, a gentlemen's dining club that serves black tie meals cooked by the members themselves who are some of Baltimore's most accomplished amateur cooks.
As General Partner of Clipper City Brewing Company, L.P., Hugh J. Sisson is among Baltimore's premier authorities on craft brewing and a former manager of the state's first pub brewery, Sissons, located in Federal Hill. A fifth generation Baltimorean, Hugh has been involved in all aspects of craft brewing.