Barely interesting little quaffer tonight… Huge end-cap at El Ranch Marketplace Pismo–errrr California Fresh Market–whatever they are calling it this week…  There are three bottlings of 2009 Pinot Noir and a Chard.  All 10$.  Couldn’t resist.  A Central Coast, A Santa Maria Valley, and another… maybe Bien Nacido? Or Sierra Madre?  Something like that.  Anyways… when you see PN with these pedigrees for ten bucks, you pretty much HAVE to try, right?  Good colour and thin.  Barely fruited.  Nose of AL and burnt rubber blows off fairly well.  Moves into aged meat and Vit C.  Just a horribly boring little pinot, but hey, ten dollars?!?  Gotta try it.  I go out so you can stay in!  Some bulk-buyer in Buellton no one has ever heard of.  Several notches above third- and fourth-shelf CA offerings.  It offers decent varietal fruit and balance.  Finish bitter and boring.  Life’s too short to drink Pinots like this, but hey, the dollars.  Did I mention it was ten dollars?!?  You can taste much worse for twice or even three-times the price-point.  I would put this up against several dozen entry-level local 20-or 30$ “Central Coast” Pinots.  Fun to try… if you are not too religious about your pinots, I suggest grabbing a bottle.  What the hell–its 10 dollar PN.  14.4   ◊