Does Price Equal Quality (Should I Spend the Money on the Wine or Order Dessert?)

Tonight, we are blind-tasting three Pinot Noir wines. All three wines are from the United States, but are priced very differently.

Pinot Noir is a medium-bodied, high-acid, fruit-forward wine.

Pinot Noir from Oregon is typically more in the Burgundian Style. California Pinot characteristically has a little greater ripeness and spice.

Here are our three wines for tonight.

Tonight, we are enjoying:

1. 2021 Firesteed Pinot Noir. This wine comes from Oregon and was purchased at Costco for $9.99, but I see it online for closer to $13. Reverse Wine Snob says it has aromas of black cherry, baking spice, touches of cranberry. The grapes are sourced from around the state of Oregon. Aging took place in a combination of small French oak barrels and larger stainless-steel tanks. Approximately 15% new French oak. The winemaker says it has red fruits, earthy notes, and toast. Silky tannins complement the long lingering finish of spice, vanilla, and French oak.
2. 2022 Stoller Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley, Oregon. This was purchased from Wall to Wall Wine for $23.99. 3.59 pH. No more than 15% in oak. This wine gets an 89 rating from the Wine Enthusiast. It says a dusty black cherry aroma dominates faint traces of earthy oregano and citrus. Invigorating acidity overshadows silky tannins. Blackberry and walnut flavors joined by a note of dark chocolate, green tea and lemon. 90 from Vinous.
3. 2022 Three Sticks Pinot Noir. I purchased this from the winery for $75. All of the wine goes through malolactic fermentation and is aged in 100% French oak (44% new) for 15 months. The wine has a pH of 3.4.

We both gave all three wines a thumbs up. Denise gave the Three Sticks Pinot Noir a 5 rating, but still enjoyed the other two. I actually liked the Stoller the best, but gave a 4 rating to both the Stoller and the Three Sticks. It really depends on your preference in wine. The Three Sticks is much heavier oaked, spicy, and with darker fruit flavors. The Stoller is the complete opposite being very subdued and very balanced.

Next week, we will be exploring more hybrid wines.