Cloudline 2006 Pinot Noir

The Winery: Cloudline Cellars
The Wine: 2006 Pinot Noir
The Price: $14.99 at my local Costco.

This is a winery that I'm not familiar with. They are apparently owned by a wine seller from New York (Dreyfus, Ashby and Company).

Upon opening the bottle, I was disappointed to find not only a composite cork, but one that was printed to look like a real cork. Tacky. Regular readers know that I'm not a fan of the plastic corks to begin with, but then to print a cork pattern on the cork raises my disdain to a new level. Grrr.

In the glass, the wine appears to be a little thin. The color is good - a dark red, but the legs are poorly developed and quickly run off.

The wine has scents of cherry and berry, neither of which is very strong. There is also a bit more of an alcohol odor than is typical. The wine tastes very thin and underdeveloped. The little flavor there is to the wine tastes of cherry and prune, with an overly-strong pepper finish. The wine lacks character, flavor and body. Call it the Linda Tripp of Pinot Noirs. This is not a $15 bottle of wine. On their web page the list the price as $19.99, which is even more out of line. I'd rather have a glass of Two-Buck Chuck than the Cloudline Pinot Noir. I really had high hopes for this wine - I'm a big fan of Oregon Pinots, and thought this would be another great Oregon wine. Sadly, I was let down. If you want a good representation of an Oregon Pinot Noir, try Sokol Blosser or August Cellars - but not the Cloudline.

By the way - the image on this page is from their website. Note to the winery - have your photos professionally done. This photo is as bad as the wine.