It’s hard to find a good Pinot Noir under $20. Most of the ones that have entered the market in the under-$20 range since “Sideways†are Pinot Noir in name only, and display little — if any — of the grape’s pure character. Like Merlot before it, inexpensive Pinot Noirs are simple grape juice from unextraordinary grapes that have been severely manipulated with oak chips and other additives, and subjected to other winemaking techniques and modern chemistry, to produce a mass-market product.
Not that this is a bad thing … after all, there are many hundreds of thousands of people — perhaps millions — who are more than satisfied with these manipulated wines. You can’t argue with success, nor with a person’s happiness.
So where does Mark West Pinot Noir fit in?
Some may remember Mark West, the basketball player. He was a 6’10†center for Old Dominion and several NBA teams in the 1980s and 1990s. He had nothing to do with this wine … but you will notice something in this wine that could have something to do with “the hardwood†…
On the nose, this Pinot Noir is heavily perfumed, exuding strong floral aromas that overpower hints of black cherry and wild red and black berries and smoky oak. The perfume is so strong it could be mistaken for a woman’s perfume, or for a soap (I’m getting Palmolive). That’s not a bad thing … personally, I like the smell of flowers and so find this wine pleasing to my honker.
In the mouth there is a lot of juicy, ripe, jammy red and black berry fruits with enough concentration to give a perception of sweetness. All that juicy fruit upfront fades into tart, medium acidity and mild dusty tannins that become more prominent in the finish. There isn’t a whole lot of fruit in the finish, which is a bit disappointing after such a forceful first impression. What there is a lot of, from start to finish, is oak, highlighted by a toasty vanilla flavor.
I tried to match it with a few different foods, but found it most pleasing alone. It gets in the way of milder flavors, and doesn’t do much to heighten or complement stronger dishes. Consider this a wine to have at the bar, or during cocktail hour.
This is a good wine for people that are hot for $10-20 Australian Shiraz and similarly jammy, chunky, all-fruit-upfront wines. For purists seeking Pinot Noir, I suggest you take a pass.
a-8 t-7 b-7 fc-6 v-7 ~ 85 Points
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Rock Rabbit is a winery in California that makes two wines: Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc. That’s it. 
The latin-looking letters on the label may confuse you, or make you think this wine is Greek. But in fact it is a wine made by a Frenchman from grapes in an Italian vineyard owned by the American Jess Jackson. Got that ? OK, on to the wine …
I let this wine sit in the glass for more than an hour before tasting … the winemaster Pierre Seillan says to decant the Arcanum wines a good TWO hours before imbibing. Even after an hour, the aromas are still struggling to get out from under. And what appears from under the depths hints at excellence. I get whiffs of black fruits, complex earth and tar. From the nose, there seems to be a lot of layers here. On the palate, again the characteristics are subdued, but paying close attention reveals a remarkable complexity: ripe black raspberry, black currant, hints of anise and cassis, sweet earth and tobacco, black pepper, cardamom, and vanilla, all tightly wrapped by ripe tannins, mild acidity, and alcohol. The finish lingers for over a minute, and the tannins are still coating the tongue, with gentle fruit and spice in the background, a good three minutes later. This is subdued now, with a few years’ cellaring it should explode into a huge wine to contemplate with exquisite cheese or enjoy with a ribeye. 
As with the other Arcanum wines, yes I did let this sit … and sit … and sit … I opened it and poured it and didn’t give it so much of a gander for an hour and a half and it still was showing very little on the nose, other than black pepper, maybe a hint of something meaty … or chocolatey … and a hint of black fruit. In the mouth it displays a little bit more than the nose, and actually gets more flavorful in the finsh.