Last night I went to a local restaurant/bar and settled on a coconut-shrip appetizer. I am trying to think and possibly learn more about the relationship between food and wine, so I purposefully picked the 2001 Mondavi Private Reserve Pinot Noir from the list of the few products available as the accompaniment. I was not in the mood for a white, so I figured the Pinot would be mellow enough to go with the sweet-fish taste of the coconutted prawn.
To my surprise, I got a fairly dark red wine, uncharacteristic in color. I could not gauge the nose very well, either because we were out in the breeze, the small glass was totally full, or there was not much of a nose to it.
Upon tasting, although acceptable, I sensed a fairly woody and
*tannic* wine inconsistent with Pinot. I wondered whether the waiter had brought me the Merlot on the list. We went back and tasted from the bottle the bartender supposedly poured and it felt just like the stuff I got.I looked at the bottle and noticed it was a generic Pinot, which I understand to mean that it can have up to 25% of another grape blended in. I guessed that the vintner must have added a generous amount of something like Malbec to give the wine big color and backbone.
This morning, I looked at the Mondavi site and here is what it says about this wine:
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Winemaker's Notes Robert Mondavi Private Selection 2001 Pinot Noir has a silky, fruit-forward style. The vibrant red fruit, floral and allspice character comes from grapes grown in the cool, foggy foothills of Monterey County. Aging in small, French oak barrels adds spicy, toasty nuances that continue through the lingering finish.
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Based on the above description, it looks like I was off the mark on my assessment.
However, I am wondering about a couple of things.
First, was my perception otherwise correct? In other words, was this an atypical Pinot?
Second, is this a new stylistic trend?
Your thoughts please.
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