Best US Pinot for $30 or under

[Nathan_Smyth]

For me, those would be precisely the selling points of the wine - soft, delicate, light on its feet, sippable, contemplatible, food friendly.

A few years ago, we tried one of the monster Cal Pinots for a big holiday - I seem to recall it was a Belle Glos Clark & Telegraph - and that “wine” was simply unswallowable.

All of us spit it back out into our glasses and the remnant of the bottle was poured down the sink.

Uhhh, A-M and Belle Glos are the yin-yang of the universe. Before just speculating that you want something lithe and limber, try tasting an A-M and report back.
Wine is more complex than “selling points”. What may seem perfect on paper may not work out that way in real life.
I am generally an AFWE.
A wine needs a certain amount of ooomph, flavor profile, what the Brits call “grip” to engage the brain.
I have confidence in Kelley Fox’s ability to coax these things out of Maresh fruit but I have given up on the quixotic, somewhat shy and reclusive James Arterberry Maresh. It seems his wines reflect his personality.

My point is that I have tasted both Belle Glos & Arterberry.

I would not serve Belle Glos to a dawg - not even if it were a pitbull [although that would be very tempting, and the little killing machine would certainly deserve it].

Whereas I would walk over broken glass to have a sub-$30 Arterberry Old Vines for Thanksgiving instead.

[PeterH]

I had a similar experience with Belle Glos Clark & Telegraph at a large dinner attended by mostly casual wine drinkers. I had stupidly bought some for half price on closeout,and thought it might be a crowd pleaser. Nope!
Everyone drank the Willamette Valley PN and left the Belle Glos in the bottle.

Maybe I should have waited and served it for dessert.

That is a warning to the OP if he should come across a bargain PN on a closeout website like I suggested above. Don’t purchase until you read the tasting notes, and if you can’t find any, don’t purchase.

[T_Altmayer]

I had a similar experience with Belle Glos Clark & Telegraph at a large dinner attended by mostly casual wine drinkers. I had stupidly bought some for half price on closeout,and thought it might be a crowd pleaser. Nope!
Everyone drank the Willamette Valley PN and left the Belle Glos in the bottle.

Maybe I should have waited and served it for dessert.

That is a warning to the OP if he should come across a bargain PN on a closeout website like I suggested above. Don’t purchase until you read the tasting notes, and if you can’t find any, don’t purchase.

Ha, I will not. I’ve had Belle Glos pinots twice and could not find a wine that tasted less like Pinot if I tried.

[Wes_Barton]

Funny thing about Belle Glos - We’ve had someone stick one in a retrospective tasting a couple times. I missed the recent one, but heard it did well. A few years ago one finished first in a single blind tasting, 10 (or maybe 15) years out from the vintage. Yes, we had dread about the grotesque horror show in the lineup. The horrific wine in the lineup that everyone assumed was it, was something more moderate. Something that once its baby fat and makeup was shed, was exposed as an awkward, overripe mess. The Belle Glos had slimmed down and integrated, and did not stand out as stylistically different than wines that had been been near polar opposites on release.

Can’t generalize about other wines of theirs from that era, much less current releases, or recommend buying their wines or anything. But, it’s a lesson/reminder to consider what components of a wine fade with age, what can integrate, and what can remain. I’ve certainly had over-extracted wines with age where the fruit had faded, but the formerly masked bitter nasty extracted compounds stood as pillars in a sea of sadness.

[Hank_Victor]

Lakewood Vineyards Pinot Noir , Finger Lakes direct from the winery would be a great choice for Thanksgiving PN under $30.

You can buy directly from the winery and have it shipped depending on what state you’re from.

[Richard_T_r_i_m_p_i]

I’ve tasted Belle Glos Pinots intentionally maybe 3 - 4 times. Never again (knowingly).

I like young Jimmy A-M. Some of his wines can be quite delicious. Can’t speak to his bargain offerings. For years, I’ve been dreading price escalations and the Napa-fication and Burg-ification of OR. It’s great news for consumers that there’s still plenty of good/excellent value Pinot for the AFWE leaning.

Siduri WV Pinot was mentioned. They have plenty of long time fans and proponents here. I bought a few vintages about 10 - 15 years ago and that was enough. Not my style. Moral of the story is taste before you buy multiples…even if it’s a splurge for expedited shipping.

RT

[Mike_V_e_r_h_i_l_l_e]

I like the idea of Siduri Appellation wines. You can get 3 bottles of 4 different Siduri wines which would make a fun comparative dinner.

[lleichtman]

Time is getting short, but if you watch WTSO they will almost certainly have a 90 point average rating PN for $20 or less in the coming weeks. Don’t jump before checking, because not all the offerings are winners. Most are a pass, but they list a lot of wines that are perfect for somewhat discerning, but not highly selective crowds.
One they offered today, a 2014 Heliotrope, would do fine at $15. One plus for their wines is that they are often clearance wines, and thus already have some age in the bottle.
If your BIL’s tastes are more to California style, WSTO has had Loring PNs a few times recently.

PS, you could do a lot worse than Melville Estate for the price. Highly dependable if you like the style.

I don’t know if it is still there but there was a Saintsbury 2014 for $14.99

[Michae1_P0wers]

Time is getting short, but if you watch WTSO they will almost certainly have a 90 point average rating PN for $20 or less in the coming weeks. Don’t jump before checking, because not all the offerings are winners. Most are a pass, but they list a lot of wines that are perfect for somewhat discerning, but not highly selective crowds.
One they offered today, a 2014 Heliotrope, would do fine at $15. One plus for their wines is that they are often clearance wines, and thus already have some age in the bottle.
If your BIL’s tastes are more to California style, WSTO has had Loring PNs a few times recently.

PS, you could do a lot worse than Melville Estate for the price. Highly dependable if you like the style.

Peter,

I assume you mean the Helioterra. I grabbed some of the '15 at $15, and was quite happy with it. Definitely a ripe year pinot, but only within the perspective of Willamette Valley pinot, which is to say, not OTT. Should improve over time as well, it’s showing quite young and a bit tannic. They offered the '14 at $14 a couple of days later and I wish I’d grabbed some of that too.

[PeterH]

Yes, Helioterra, I should check sources before posting. "14 and '15 were both ripe years, but '14s are drinking well much earlier than the '15s in general. The Boedecker Athena and Stewart they offered would have been good candidates. Sometimes show up again, even after being “sold out”.

[Pat_Martin]

I generally really like St Innocent’s PN, and their Villages Cuvee is priced in the low $20’s.

Belle Pente’s basic PN is also good and can be found for less than $25.

[Michae1_P0wers]

Yes, Helioterra, I should check sources before posting. "14 and '15 were both ripe years, but '14s are drinking well much earlier than the '15s in general. The Boedecker Athena and Stewart they offered would have been good candidates. Sometimes show up again, even after being “sold out”.

Agree that '14 is drinking better early. Both show some glycerin in the texture upon opening but it seems to resolve once the wine is open awhile, making me think these wines should be fine down the line. The '14 Helioterra came with a very strange message (for WTSO anyway) saying it was one day only, and for a limited time, which is a bit redundant at least. WTSO often reloads so maybe they bought all of this that was available. In any case, I should have grabbed some of the '14 as well, the '15 is really quite good and at $15 is a lot of pinot for the price. FWIW, the winemaker seems to post here on occasion, and the consensus seems to be that she makes wines on the more AFWE side of the spectrum, which is what enticed me to buy even with the riper vintage. It was the right decision and I’ll buy more if offered.

[Jeffrey_Neal]

The reality is probably that most people at a dinner like that will notice that the wine is red, and that’s about it.

[KyleC]

Au Bon Climat has some great values at the $20 price point

[T_Altmayer]

Au Bon Climat has some great values at the $20 price point

Good call

[Andrew_Morris]

I agree with Chris and others that acidity is essential here.

Lots of great recs in the thread. Let me add Briceland (I think they’ve got something in that price zone, but they’re not big enough to have a regular web store, so I can’t verify), and second Twill and Kelley Fox in particular for this usage. But you can’t go wrong with Vincent, Sandler, Goodfellow, Cowan, Cabot, Evesham Wood, etc. etc.

Thanks for mentioning Briceland here, Lee.

Our Humboldt Pinot (non single Vineyard) lists for 31, but it can be had for a bit less if you are not getting a single.

The newly released 2017 of this offering is a nice example of what Humboldt can do with Pinot.

If anyone wants one, I can send a list of what we have. I’m at andrew@bricelandvineyards.com.

Cheers!

[Jay_Miller]

I don’t like getting into “best” but I think Vincent consistently over delivers at that price point. Terrific wines and they’ll be appreciated by a wide spectrum of wine drinkers.

+1

[John_Glas]

Five of the Best American Pinot Noirs Under $45, Tasted and Ranked

These guys seem to have it figured out for under $45.

[Gary_Ahearn]

The best Pinot Noir I’ve had for under $30 have been the '14, '15, '16 bottles of Cameron Ribbon Ridge. Have purchased at least 50 bottles, ranging from $19.50 to $23.00 from several sources. Punches way above its weight, IMO.

[Michae1_P0wers]

The best Pinot Noir I’ve had for under $30 have been the '14, '15, '16 bottles of Cameron Ribbon Ridge. Have purchased at least 50 bottles, ranging from $19.50 to $23.00 from several sources. Punches way above its weight, IMO.

Excellent wine, though I prefer the Dundee Hills bottling. Just had a '17 WV which is ridiculous quality for under $20.