6 Best Pinots for Under $15.00 Article from WE.

[John_Glas]

Yeller Tail…? They recommend Yellow Tail. Sigh.

Pretty much sums up WE’s reputation. Maybe a little better than Food & Wine?

The same wine has a 79.7 rating on CT. 2019 Yellow Tail Pinot Noir, Australia, South Eastern - CellarTracker


Quote from the most recent tasting note: “ this Pinot is probably one of the worst wines I have ever tasted in my life.”

More interesting is the step it up a few cents! What is cheap than Yellow Tail Pinot???

[Daniel_S]

The same wine has a 79.7 rating on CT. 2019 Yellow Tail Pinot Noir, Australia, South Eastern - CellarTracker


Quote from the most recent tasting note: “ this Pinot is probably one of the worst wines I have ever tasted in my life.”

More interesting is the step it up a few cents! What is cheap than Yellow Tail Pinot???

I’d never thought that one of my bottom feeding tasting notes would get quoted on this site, but alas here we are.

Shortly before “tasting” the Yellow Tail, we also compared a bottle of Meiomi to the cheapest Pinot we could find at our corner store - Crane Lake at $4.39. So technically at $5, it is only a few cents more. You also don’t want to know how bad some of the $3.49 PNs that Trader Joe’s sells are.

[Michael_Martin]

Pretty much sums up WE’s reputation. Maybe a little better than Food & Wine?

The same wine has a 79.7 rating on CT. 2019 Yellow Tail Pinot Noir, Australia, South Eastern - CellarTracker


Quote from the most recent tasting note: “ this Pinot is probably one of the worst wines I have ever tasted in my life.”

More interesting is the step it up a few cents! What is cheap than Yellow Tail Pinot???

[Michael_Martin]

The same wine has a 79.7 rating on CT. 2019 Yellow Tail Pinot Noir, Australia, South Eastern - CellarTracker


Quote from the most recent tasting note: “ this Pinot is probably one of the worst wines I have ever tasted in my life.”

More interesting is the step it up a few cents! What is cheap than Yellow Tail Pinot???

I’d never thought that one of my bottom feeding tasting notes would get quoted on this site, but alas here we are.

Shortly before “tasting” the Yellow Tail, we also compared a bottle of Meiomi to the cheapest Pinot we could find at our corner store - Crane Lake at $4.39. So technically at $5, it is only a few cents more. You also don’t want to know how bad some of the $3.49 PNs that Trader Joe’s sells are.

Much respect for stepping up and owning that note.

[JBrochu]

The same wine has a 79.7 rating on CT. 2019 Yellow Tail Pinot Noir, Australia, South Eastern - CellarTracker


Quote from the most recent tasting note: “ this Pinot is probably one of the worst wines I have ever tasted in my life.”

More interesting is the step it up a few cents! What is cheap than Yellow Tail Pinot???

I’d never thought that one of my bottom feeding tasting notes would get quoted on this site, but alas here we are.

Shortly before “tasting” the Yellow Tail, we also compared a bottle of Meiomi to the cheapest Pinot we could find at our corner store - Crane Lake at $4.39. So technically at $5, it is only a few cents more. You also don’t want to know how bad some of the $3.49 PNs that Trader Joe’s sells are.

I think Meiomi is the worst PN I’ve ever tasted. (Granted, I haven’t tried any $3.49 bottles from TJ’s, but I can’t imagine that they could taste much worse.)

[Nick_van_der_Merwe]

I always subtract at least 2 or 3 points from WE ratings.

I used to with WE but now more like 6. Honestly they used to be a bit more conservative on the scores but now they are trying to keep up with the rest of the shelf talkers.

Sean Sullivan who reviews Washington for Wine Enthusiast is typically quite conservative (at least in my experience) and does a nice job. I was disappointed that he stopped posting his reviews on his personal website (I assume because WE wanted sole distribution rights).

[Kris_Patten]

I always subtract at least 2 or 3 points from WE ratings.

I used to with WE but now more like 6. Honestly they used to be a bit more conservative on the scores but now they are trying to keep up with the rest of the shelf talkers.

Sean Sullivan who reviews Washington for Wine Enthusiast is typically quite conservative (at least in my experience) and does a nice job. I was disappointed that he stopped posting his reviews on his personal website (I assume because WE wanted sole distribution rights).

So is Gregutt who has OR, I believe. They are good and knowledgeable about PNW wines.

[John_Glas]

The same wine has a 79.7 rating on CT. 2019 Yellow Tail Pinot Noir, Australia, South Eastern - CellarTracker


Quote from the most recent tasting note: “ this Pinot is probably one of the worst wines I have ever tasted in my life.”

More interesting is the step it up a few cents! What is cheap than Yellow Tail Pinot???

I’d never thought that one of my bottom feeding tasting notes would get quoted on this site, but alas here we are.

Shortly before “tasting” the Yellow Tail, we also compared a bottle of Meiomi to the cheapest Pinot we could find at our corner store - Crane Lake at $4.39. So technically at $5, it is only a few cents more. You also don’t want to know how bad some of the $3.49 PNs that Trader Joe’s sells are.

Crane Lake sighting! Wonder what that costs to make per bottle?

[Al_Osterheld]

Years ago Trader Joe’s was worth visiting for winery and distributor closeouts. Now it appears to be all low end crap made to sell at a low price. Stumbled across some good wines at crazy prices back then, but stopped looking a long time ago.

-Al

[John_Morris]

Years ago Trader Joe’s was worth visiting for winery and distributor closeouts. Now it appears to be all low end crap made to sell at a low price. Stumbled across some good wines at crazy prices back then, but stopped looking a long time ago.

-Al

Yes, I remember the days when you could find Ridge wines there. But that was a loooong time ago, before they went national. Not enough close-outs to supply TJ these days.

[Al_Osterheld]

Years ago Trader Joe’s was worth visiting for winery and distributor closeouts. Now it appears to be all low end crap made to sell at a low price. Stumbled across some good wines at crazy prices back then, but stopped looking a long time ago.

-Al

Yes, I remember the days when you could find Ridge wines there. But that was a loooong time ago, before they went national. Not enough close-outs to supply TJ these days.

Exactly. I think they started in SoCal and were great, then expanded into NoCal and were at least decent, but now not worth the time in the wine section.

Locally, there is a chain called Grocery Outlet that was getting some decent wine close outs although they mostly have crap. Haven’t been since the pandemic, though (ended up lower on the hierarchy of needs).

-Al

[Chuck_Miller]

I used to with WE but now more like 6. Honestly they used to be a bit more conservative on the scores but now they are trying to keep up with the rest of the shelf talkers.

Sean Sullivan who reviews Washington for Wine Enthusiast is typically quite conservative (at least in my experience) and does a nice job. I was disappointed that he stopped posting his reviews on his personal website (I assume because WE wanted sole distribution rights).

So is Gregutt who has OR, I believe. They are good and knowledgeable about PNW wines.

Paul Gregutt is no longer with WE. He is now an independent wine reviewer focussed on Oregon and Walla Walla wines.Sean recently took over reviewing all of Washington and Oregon, along with Canada.

[John_Glas]

Sean Sullivan who reviews Washington for Wine Enthusiast is typically quite conservative (at least in my experience) and does a nice job. I was disappointed that he stopped posting his reviews on his personal website (I assume because WE wanted sole distribution rights).

So is Gregutt who has OR, I believe. They are good and knowledgeable about PNW wines.

Paul Gregutt is no longer with WE. He is now an independent wine reviewer focussed on Oregon and Walla Walla wines.Sean recently took over reviewing all of Washington and Oregon, along with Canada.

Sean might be the only one working for them that I would take with a grain of salt. He has a good palate.

[John_Glas]

Years ago Trader Joe’s was worth visiting for winery and distributor closeouts. Now it appears to be all low end crap made to sell at a low price. Stumbled across some good wines at crazy prices back then, but stopped looking a long time ago.

-Al

Al we have a Trader Joe’s and Total Wine side by side in Bloomington. The amount of people in and out of the place buying bad wine is alarming.

[Al_Osterheld]

Can probably do better in Total Wine if you stick to certain regions (especially Bordeaux), although pricing not what it was. I haven’t looked at either in quite a while.

-Al

[John_Glas]

Can probably do better in Total Wine if you stick to certain regions (especially Bordeaux), although pricing not what it was. I haven’t looked at either in quite a while.

-Al

I find the Bordeaux wines under $50 are decant prices but anything over that in MN is overpriced.

[Al_Osterheld]

From what I could tell, the local places bumped the prices with tariffs and they have remained. Not positive, but also think there are fewer discount cards mailed out (but they may not mail those to me since I’ve not been going there). But, the Bordeaux section was by far the best section in my local stores.

-Al

[Kris_Patten]

Sean Sullivan who reviews Washington for Wine Enthusiast is typically quite conservative (at least in my experience) and does a nice job. I was disappointed that he stopped posting his reviews on his personal website (I assume because WE wanted sole distribution rights).

So is Gregutt who has OR, I believe. They are good and knowledgeable about PNW wines.

Paul Gregutt is no longer with WE. He is now an independent wine reviewer focussed on Oregon and Walla Walla wines.Sean recently took over reviewing all of Washington and Oregon, along with Canada.

Loooking back at those reviews above in link in particular Gregutt was still cited as reviewer. Good to know he is out…I like his and Sean’s reviews of PNW wines.

[Chuck_Miller]

Yes, the announcement was just made in early January.

[John_Glas]

So is Gregutt who has OR, I believe. They are good and knowledgeable about PNW wines.

Paul Gregutt is no longer with WE. He is now an independent wine reviewer focussed on Oregon and Walla Walla wines.Sean recently took over reviewing all of Washington and Oregon, along with Canada.

Loooking back at those reviews above in link in particular Gregutt was still cited as reviewer. Good to know he is out…I like his and Sean’s reviews of PNW wines.

Sean is solid and knows what he is talking to. It is nice they have at least one solid reviewer at WE.