Wrapping up our brief foray into what many call the heartbreak grape due to its thin skin and susceptibility to frost damage otherwise known as the Pinot Noir grape.
This one is a Wakefield Pinot Noir from Adelaide Hills. It has a light ruby colour. As for aromatics a bit of a classic Pinot Noir nose with raspberry, strawberry and cherry. On the palate the tannins are mild and there is no unwelcome acidity. Not a heck of a lot of fruit on the palate. Instead of strength or elegance we have a beggar on the palate which is all the more disappointing as the nose was promising. Wobbly and dazed red cherry and some disoriented cranberry greets us. Short finish. A Pinot Noir to be avoided. Despite winning a Double Gold at the 2020 China Wine and Spirits Awards this wine fails to inspire.
(Wakefield Adelaide Hills 2018 Pinot Noir, Taylors Wines Auburn, South Australia, $19.95, 750 mL, 14%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 197392, Robert K. Stephen, A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 83/100).
French Burgundian Pinot Noir at a moderate price that delights is a rare find but I keep hoping.
I hope on with a 2018 Domaine des Verchères. It is ruby coloured. Aromas of raspberry and cherry with perhaps too much wood. On the palate some bitter cherry. The acids are not raging but disproportionate. This Pinot Noir is a dud. I would say don’t bother. I am returning to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario for a refund. I think this a negociant wine i.e, bottled by a middleman as it is bottled by a numbered company. What LCBO buyer would buy this sorry wine? Surely for $23.95 one deserves more than this miserable concoction!
