The amber glow of a well patina’d Pinot. The ample funk and barnyard of a Pinot designed not to please the non-pinot people. The round cherry umami fruit usually apparent in an entry-level Pinot. The depth of blood-orange, mushroom and onion soil of someone who wants this to be representative of good Pinot. The Dr. Pepper spritz, burn and candy of Arroyo Grande Valley. The crayon-on-newspaper gritty bite of a smart wine not kowtowing to the tourist palate. The ambivalence of the manure and dirty gutter to the typical Wild Horse consumer. The flat-out fucking YUMMINESS of it.
This $30 bottle comes with one of the most-famous wine-making lineages on the Central Coast behind it and if you are fans of Arroyo Grande Valley–that little splinter of the Pinot world sandwiched between the Santa Maria and Edna Valley’s–I highly recommend it. It’s a little big. It’s a little flabby. It’s a little ripe and round. But it’s also deeply nuanced and a SERIOUS bang-for-the-buck.
2013 WILD HORSE WINERY Pinot Noir Arroyo Grande Valley Central Coast 14.3
Stephen McConnell 