Wednesday's Wine - Pinot Evil - Pinot Noir Vin de Pays de L'ile de Beaute

For the record, there is no vintage year noted on the label of this Pinot Noir. I bought it a long while back...or maybe it was a gift. In any case, it was under $10 or it was free (online I saw it in the $6.00 range)! Clearly the best thing about this wine is the label:
I had this wine on a picnic up on my land. I was going to post a picture I took while up there of the leaves changing, but the sun was in just the right spot to wash out the picture making everything look very light green instead of having the contrast of the dark greens of the pines and the yellows of the bushes and aspens. Now I hear it's going to snow up there this weekend. Sorry to all of you that were hoping for some new pictures...sigh.

I digress. Anyway, my picnic guest and I found this Pinot a bit on the gritty side when first opened. It reminded me of those bottles of Chianti that have a basket around the bottle. After a second picnic glass, it seemed a tad less gritty, but that's probably because I was distracted by my company. This wine was definitely thinner than a typical Pinot Noir. It had more alcohol on the finish, which might have been why it seemed gritty at first, and was quite astringent. The nose (how it smelled) was light, but kind of like some choke cherry jelly I once had (choke cherries are very tart). The flavor was okay, but nothing really stood out. Nevertheless, it wasn't undrinkable and the label was good for conversation. The backside of the label has a lovely story about the monkeys, but then they also say it has a velvet finish. I don't think so. They suggest having with duck. I suggest, if you buy it, have it like I did...on a picnic with fruit, cheese, crackers and summer sausage.

Enjoy...maybe...heh.