2011 Wild Horse Pinot Noir Unbridled Santa Barbara County- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (4/22/2014)
Californian Pinot can really stirrup one’s emotions. There are some really good ones (Arcadian!); and then you have this kind that makes me wish I’d had a Palomino Sherry in my glass instead. But sometimes one needs to approach wines with equineimity.
For horse d’œuvres I had some lightly smoked common whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) which isn’t exactly Pinot food. But the mane course was something vaguely resembling bœuf bourguignon. It might seem a bit lame making such an unimaginative food for Pinot, but hay, it’s tasty!
This wine, however, wasn’t so great with the food - or on its own. But it wasn’t the stuff that night-mares are made of. It just was a bit oaky and ripe and though I don’t want to be a neigh-sayer it just isn’t my preferred style. But if you mustang out with filly-stines who like big, bold, in-your-face wines, this isn’t a bad choice for them.
(And I do apologise: I’m so saddle try to make a pun out of anything. Tim Vine is the rein-ing king of puns. And judging by these, his position is stable.)
Not a surprising result. Wild Horse is a large production grocery store brand, and this is their ‘reserve’ label. Usually that means fruit and oak intensity turned up over the entry level wine.
So sad, Otto. Back in the days when KennyVolk was running WildHorse, his Unbridled Pinot (made from Estate/TempletonGap grapes,
rather than SantaBarbara) was absolutely first rate, easily (maybe) the best Paso Pinot being made.
Now, WildHorse is just a TJ’s/supermarket brand. How the mighty have fallen.
Tom
You know the problem with you Americans is that you drink all the good US wines yourselves! So apart from the occasional Ridge, everything US we see here seems to be this type of uninteresting stuff.
(Sorry, Ken, the Mark C reference was lost on me.)
