The only good thing I can say about the recession is the effect it's had on the price of Oregon Pinot Noir lately. It's true that growers and vintners need to be compensated and encouraged to do what they do (and to do is so well).

But still, I love Oregon Pinot and it's pretty easy to go broke drinking the stuff. That's why it's so exciting to find so many really good low-end Pinots these days. And by "low-end", I mean inexpensive. And by inexpensive, I mean between $14 and $20.

While I don't have individual reviews for them all, I recently tried the following:

• Grochau Cellars ("gc") Commuter Cuvee, 2008 ($16)
• Dollar Bills Only (Patrictia Green), 2008 ($17)
• McKinlay, 2007 ($15)
• Spinnaker, 2007 ($17)

These are very good and worth the money. I recommend them all. With the possible exception of the Dollar Bills Only, all of these are on the light-side of Oregon Pinot. In fact, if I drank them blind I probably would have thought most of them to be Burgundy. No, these are not jammy. Light and mainly cherry -- all with nuance. Yet each one had it's pluses and minuses. Regardless, all are worth every penny.



The Commuter Cuvee opened with a pronounced sharpness that was completely muted the next day -- it was really nice at that point. So decant this one if you're drinking it in 2009. I reviewed the 2007 vintage of this and loved it. I went back and bought all I could find. This one is equally striking for how good it is for the money.



The Dollar Bills Only had more body than the others. However, the downside of this one was a pronounced yeast smell. Denise was put off by it, while it bothered me a lot less. We tasted it the next day too. And by then, the yeast aroma was nearly entirely gone, and we were left with a really smooth and nice Pinot at a shocking price for the quality. So, decant this one. Or better yet, hold on to these bottles for a little while longer is my advice.



The Spinnaker was also really nice (see the review here). I really liked this one a lot. Cherry, cranberry, and a little earth. Light. Balanced. Really nice. For Denise, she gets tired of all the Pinot I get, so Pinots really have to be distinctive for her to take note (me, I'm a sucker for Pinot). But with this one, she perked up right away. I thought it might be too thin for her. But instead, she surprised me by comparing it to Beaux Freres!



Finally there's the McKinlay (see review here). This was very light, cherry and really well balanced. This was Denise's favorite. Before I told Denise anything about it, I asked her how much she thought this bottle cost. She said $25. Nope: just $14.99. Crazy.

But do be warned about this round-up: if you like big jammy Oregon Pinots (Ken Wright for example), then these wines may not be your cup of tea. But I found them to be really fabulous.

My goodness, this is a bonafide eighth wonder of the world: cheap and good Oregon Pinot. This was only 14.99 (or $13.50 if you buy 6) at Freddie's. So this is seriously a steal -- just to get that out of the way. However, if you are a big, jammy Oregon Pinot fan, this one may disappoint. It's definitely on the light side of Pinot -- very light for the stereotypical Oregon Pinot. On the other hand, if you like Burgundy, then keep reading.

This one starts heavy with fruit, and then ends floral. Total cherry. And for $15, youd expect it to be a bit unbalanced, maybe a bit harsh or raspy. Nope, none of that. However, it is a very light bodied Pinot. Subtle. Feminine. Delicate. And yummy.

Toasty oak and dust in the smell. And later it had sort of an outside-skin-of-a-nectarine smell. Cinnamon. Satsuma. Dust. Yep, that's about right.

The taste was predominantly red cherry. A hint of earth of some kind (not sure). Then it into floral. Rose! Subtle, but definitely rose.

Denise really liked this one too. She's not usually for the over-oaked, overly rich Oregon Pinot. And she fell for this one similarly to how she loved the Spinnaker (see review here). Without showing her the bottle or telling her anything about this wine, I asked her: "so how much to you think this cost?" She said "$25". See, $15 (or maybe even $13.50), this is a serious bargain. Hint: Hollywood Freddie's is at about 28th and Broadway in NE Portland. Get in your car now!

Cost:   

Rating:    8.5

I picked up this gem of a wine at a gem of a store, Ross Island Grocery:



If you've never been you're missing something unique; Ross Island Grocery is a great little destination for those trapped between Barbur and I-5 in Lair Hill (that's just south of downtown Portland). There, you can pick up food for your cat. You can get a great sandwich -- made by a person with tattoos, purple hair, and a warm smile. And you can get wine -- by the glass for hanging out, or by the bottle to go. It was here that I found this phenomenal wine.

This wine was a light, feminine cherry that danced on your tongue. It was also very smooth, especially considering the price. Denise described it as "flirty". Then she said something surprising: "it's like a low grade Beaux Freres". Wow! Now that may sound like a put-down, but she meant the opposite. Beaux Freres is Denise's favorite. And it costs like 5 times as much, at least. So this was a pretty serious compliment.

The nose was a light dustiness. Later is had a very light floral element. Some sort of green flower; not pungent. Something like lettuce. And a touch of oak. The taste was mainly cherry and cranberry.

Denise said later, that this was a perfect "red wine for Easter bunch". I don't know what that means exactly, but we both really enjoyed this one.

Cost:   

Rating:    8.5

Perhaps you've already seen this; it's posted all over. But this is too good not to share if you haven't: