Last night, Jean and I stopped by a local upscale convenience store to pick up a few items for dinner, and ran across a bottle of the 2001 HRM Rex Goliath Pinot Noir, overpriced at $9.99. After all the buzz it's received in this forum, we felt compelled to give it a try.
color: ruby red, surprisingly dark nose: initially, a big whack of smoky cherry; after pouring into the glass, the nose subsided a bit (and is there a trace of cork taint? blast and damn!) but remained clearly varietal palate: silky, medium body, good cherryish fruit with some smoke and minerals, ripe but not overripe with enough acid to make it pleasant with food. Although I had expected an oakier wine, any oakiness it had showed only as the roundness of the wine (has it integrated since earlier this year? dunno)
Overall, a surprisingly good PN. It had clear varietal character and surprising substance and could easily be mistaken for a CA PN selling for twice the price. Possibly the best CA Pinot I've had for