I realized the other day that I was almost to the end of this course, and had not tried one Pinot Noir. In order to rectify this travesty, I picked up a bottle of Italian Pinot Noir from the Vintage Cellar: Monte Degli Angeli (Mountain of Angels) Pinot Noir, vintage 2021, Baron's collection. It scored a 92 from wine critic James Suckling, cost about $14, and had an alcohol content of 13%. It comes from the Piedmont region of Italy and is a varietal wine made from the Pinot Noir grape.
According to the description put out by wine critic James Suckling, it is floral with fine tannins and a bright finish, as well as strawberry and stone notes. It is rich, silky, velvety, and soft with other fruit notes of cherry, raspberry, and tomato. Floral notes include violet and rose petal.
Upon opening and decanting the wine at room temperature, I noticed its deep ruby quality. The aroma given off was very fruit forward: cherry and plums with perhaps a hint of orange marmalade. There was also a subtle spiciness with floral notes, such as white pepper, sage, and hibiscus. The actual mouthfeel of the wine was delightful. It was medium-bodied and velvety smooth with soft tannins. It was slightly astringent, enough that I could feel the tannins sit on my tongue, but it was not off-putting.
The taste of the wine itself was fine. It was fruity and dry, with notes of cherry and plum. However, I believe it was missing some much needed acidity. It just came off kind of plain and dull; it needed complexity. It also had an interesting earthy aftertaste such as mushroom, but no real spice. For an old world style wine, it was actually pretty easy to drink which surprised me.
My friend and I enjoyed this bottle with some feta cheese stuffed olives, and that was a real treat. The olives really brought out the earthiness in the wine. The salt and fat from the olives boosted the perceivable sweetness of the wine, while downplaying the fruit quality. In combination, it gave the wine an even more appreciable mouthfeel.
From page 150 of Wine Folly, Pinot Noir is typically characterized by flavors such as cherry, raspberry, clove, mushroom, and vanilla. It is typically medium high in acidity, with medium to low levels of alcohol, body, sweetness, and tannins. Its the mid-range jumper of wines. This was a very inoffensive wine and I could see it pairing well with almost anything. However, next time I would try a bolder selection from somewhere like France or California.
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