Saint Clair Vicar’s Choice Pinot Noir 2006
Since the Sideways
Tasting Notes
From the Marlborough region of New Zealand comes this bottle, dubbed “Vicar’s Choice” by the producer Saint Clair. As you might expect, Saint Clair also makes a fine Sauvignon Blanc, which we may review at a later date. For now, let’s talk about the Pinot Noir.
The color is very light — it could be mistaken for a deep rose — but the paleness belies its bigness. Open nose of stemmy green fruit, ripe cherry and raspberry, some hints of earth. Flavors are similar — ripe cherry, raspberry, and cranberry, with touches of earth, mild tobacco, mineral, and a hint of green / unripe fruit. Acidity is surprisingly medium-high, and appropriate for the fruit concentration. Tannins are medium, and also in good balance. The wine finishes with sour cranberry and cherry flavors, ripe tannins, and mouthwatering acidity.
Overall this is an excellent under-$20 Pinot Noir, showing good complexity and polish. Its subtle greenness and minerality reminds one more of an Alsace Pinot Noir than a jammy example from the New World — which is a good thing. It is enjoyable on its own but really finds its potential on the table. Match it with simply prepared chicken, complex fish, turkey, vegetarian dishes, roast pork (pork loin), mild cheeses.
I’ve seen this at various price points between $12 and $18; even at the higher end, it’s a fair value (and a great one at the lower point). Whatever the cost, it’s a good choice as a “weekend wine”.
a-8 t-8 b-8 fc-9 v-9 ~ 92 Points
Importer: Winesellers Ltd.
Find this wine at a local retailer through Wine-Searcher
I have to admit, I was expecting very little from this wine. Silver Spur was completely unknown to me, as I’d never seen the winery name in a retail shop, on a restaurant list, nor read in a wine magazine. It was sent to me by MyWinesDirect, an internet-only retailer that specializes in introducing unknown wines to ignorant palates such as mine.
If you can’t pronounce Pouilly-Fume, don’t fret — you need only recognize it when you see it on the shelf (you can always point it out to the sommelier in a restaurant as well, without embarrassment). 
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.
Red Wine Review:
For many, many years, Syrah was France’s little secret — a grape grown almost exclusively in the Northern Rhone Valley, producing scant bottles of legendary wines such as Hermitage and Cote-Rotie. Even after migrating to Australia in the 1830s, Syrah still wasn’t nearly as popular as, for example, Cabernet and Merlot from Bordeaux, Pinot Noir from Burgundy, or Tempranillo from Rioja. 
Estancia Winery, based in Monterey County, California, is known to cheapskates like me as a producer of solid, reliable wines in the $10-15 range. I’ve been particularly impressed with their “entry level” Pinot Noir (Pinnacles Ranches), which stands out as a keeper among the sea of crappy under-$20 Pinots made by myriad other producers. The recent excitement over Pinot Noir, and in turn its overproduction, has resulted in too many disappointing bottles, making me wary of choosing one outside of Burgundy and/or under forty bucks. Luckily, Estancia has a staked interest in their reputation, and is more interested in bottling quality wine than rushing the grape de rigeur to market.
Heidsieck & Co Monopole Blue Top Premiers Crus
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