Entretien de Pinot Noir et autre vins

Despite three years of French classes back in high school, I don't really know jack about the French language aside from a few bits and pieces. For those who know as much as I do or less, the title of this post means something close to this: talk of Pinot Noir and other wines. I don't really know jack about wines either, but I know enough to want to write a brief post about them.

I've only become interested in wines rather recently. I used to like the cheap white wine that my parents like to drink while not liking most of the red wine I've encountered in the past, making me think that I'd probably be more of a white wine person. That changed after reading this article by Bill Sardi about Pinot Noir wines awhile back on LRC. Because of the promising health benefits of drinking Pinot Noir wine in particular, I decided to give it a try. I love it! The types I've tried have been smooth and fruity without being real dry or acidic, which are traits that I like.

There is a recent movie called "Sideways" that features a lot of wine talk, and the main character is apparently a big Pinot Noir fan. I haven't seen the flick, but I did read this article from Yahoo News today about the movie's effect on Pinot Noir sales. It is apparently a more obscure variety of wine that is now gaining in popularity thanks to this movie.

I also happened to hear through the grapevine today about some of the wines available at the Trader Joe's grocery chain. There is apparently a glut of grapes out in California right now due to overplanting in the '90s., which is one of the reasons for wine prices coming down in recent years. The Charles Shaw winery out in California turned a lot of these grapes into wine that is being exclusively sold at Trader Joe's. Depending on location, bottles of their wine are between $1.99 and $3.39, and they're supposed to be a lot better than their incredibly low prices suggest.

Although I immediately came across a piece by some wine snob trashing the wine upon doing a Google search for Charles Shaw wine, the person I heard this from has worked in fine restaraunts and seems to know quite a bit about wine. The wine has also apparently recieved rave reviews from many others out there, so I'm going to give some a try the next time I go to Trader Joe's. Charles Shaw doesn't make a Pinot Noir, so I'll try whatever they have in stock. For that price, you can't go wrong! Here is a link to Trader Joe's page about these wines.