Dom Brunet Pinot Noir 2009

I think have pinot noir fever this week, because this is now the third pinot in a row that I'm talking about. What can I say? The stuff's yummy. Plus, it just so happened that one of the bottles of the wine I'm reviewing got shipped to the store with a dirty label, so I was able to take it home last night. Free wine, I'll drink to that!

This is a popular wine at San Pietro Wine & Spirits, retailing around $11 bucks a bottle while packing some awesome value-power in terms of quality. The wine I'm writing about today, if you somehow missed the title of this post, is the 2009 Domaine Brunet Pinot Noir. This wine hails from the Languedoc-Rousillon region of France, which is located on the southern end of the country, stretching towards the Spanish border. The region experiences a strong Mediterranean climate. That means sunny days and awesomely cool nights- a sign of a great viticultural area.

The color of the wine was, to put it bluntly, pretty simple. A light transparent red with no real depth. The legs on the wine were charming, but nothing to go crazy over. They might have been a little too thick, but they spread themselves with consistent spacing. However bland the wine may have looked though wasn't really a big problem for me though, I wasn't exactly expecting something phenomenal.

In aroma the wine was, opposed to its appearance, spectacular. At first I could make out some red fruits, mainly cherries and black currant. After a while though, the pinot's marriage with the French oak revealed itself, culminating in a lovely, thick scent of dark chocolate. Upon further inspection, which is always a lot of fun, I was able to make out a pistachio-spread type scent that came through beautifully. If you've never had pistachio spread, you should. It's like Nutella times nine-thousand double-rainbows (for a whopping total of eighteen-thousand rainbows.) It was pretty great.

The flavor also didn't disappoint, showing an early sweetness on the initial tongue contact. Once again the cherry and black currant berry flavors came through nicely throughout the mid palate and well into the finish. Begining towards the end of the mid-palate and all the way to the end of the smooth finish came the rich barrique oak which brought about a sweet woodenness along with those dark chocolate notes. As usual, the pinot's body was mildly light (perhaps medium-bodied,) and it possessed soft tannins that went well with my roasted eggplants and tomatoes.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Dom Brunet is a smart buy. Its yummy, it has rich aromatics, and most importantly it put a smile on my face. At any rate, I'll try to get something other than a pinot noir to review for the next post. Perhaps something a bit stronger and bolder. Stay tuned, fellas! Thanks for reading!