We are delighted that you enjoyed our Akarua Pinot 2021, thank you for your comments and the score! We look forward to sending you our other vintages. Cheers #Akaruateam
fun stuff k-man. lets admit this up front. most of us are here to get some recommendations for wine that punches above its price point. for me a 40$ bottle is about my limit of diminishing returns. let the super rich and celebs drink the over priced burgundy, i can thoroughly enjoy a $30 bottle with my dinner. its nice to see an expert agree on this subject. why throw away money.
As a huge burgundy and pinot noir fan, the Akarua from Bannockburn is an astonishing wine. I live in Paris but I visited their winery in Otago and €30 is a good price and incredible value. They have a "Siren" limited edition that is quite a bit more expensive and maybe a couple of points better, but in a world where we are searching for affordable pinot outside of Burgendy, this is a real gem. Cheers.
Another great video! You are so good at your craft and at your ability to make each video so entertaining. I have learned much from watching your videos and have gained a greater appreciation for the 'wine world'. I can't get enough of the blind tastings and hope that they will always have a place in your channel. Thanks for sharing.
I love blind tasting! And I really admire and appreciate for putting yourself out there and not be afraid to make mistake. This is more enjoyable than seeing an expert talk about wines that they already know based on the label
My favorite pinots at the moment are from Domaine Drouhin in Oregon. The family is French and has been producing pinot in Burgundy for several generations. They have several different pinots from all their properties.
South Africa: Hamilton Russell. It's a shame I have to go there to get any. Australia: Providence Miguet, from Northern Tasmania. I've not had one in more than a decade and I lost track of this vineyard. I think it still exists. New Zealand: Coal Pit Tiwha, Central Otago. Pinot for Shiraz fans. I wouldn't claim that any of these are the best, but I have enjoyed them greatly.
I've been trying a lot of wines from Côte Chalonnaise recently and have found some great value in 1er cru wines. Most recently we sampled four 1er cru offerings from Mercurey, all under $60 and all excellent wines.
Great video as always Konstantin, please make more of these videos with tasting the wine from the same grape variety from different regions/at different price points! Very exciting!
I really enjoyed your video. Blind tastings are so much fun and i respect your palette. That was very helpful for me to evaluate wine and not go for the obvious choices! Prost!
I love German Pinot/Spätburgunder. My local wineshop imports the wines of three estates, two VDPs (Wagner-Stempel and Dautel) which both have great pinots, but for the great price/quality I usually purchase the wines from Steitz, which (unfairly if you ask me) does not have VDP-status. Especially their Eichelberg Spätburgunder is excellent and only sets you back 23 euros.
Wonderful episode. Patricia is smiling that her legacy continues despite her unexpected passing several years ago. Hope that you can attend INPC one of these years to enjoy Burgundy defend their throne against the challengers around the world.
Loved this tasting! I like how you demystify the process of blindly identifying wines. My favorite affordable pinot is a Pinot Nero from Tentino-Alto-Adige. Favorite affordable(ish) pinots are from Baden (Dr. Heger!) and NZ. I LOVE the KIWI pinot style. I know you can only do 6 wines but I would have loved to see some more old world pinot in this tasting. Maybe very good village level burgundy, Reuilly (Loire), Alsace, or Italy (Alto Adige and Tuscany produce some great PN). Did you know they even make non sparkling PN in Champagne?
Nice group of pinots and excellent analysis of the regions/styles. Sounds wonderful. Patricia Green is the only wine I'm familiar with although I do have a couple bottles of Dugat-Py. I drink a lot of bourgognes and one I find well-priced and delicious is Michel Rebourgeon.
Great video, i can highly recommend Swiss pinots if you haven't tried them. Most of the production ends up staying inside the country because of high price point but I think there is better value to be found here than in Burgundy! Cheers
Very nice video, many thanks. I’ve recently tasted 3 different Pinots worth mentioning: -Domaine Mure, Clos St Landelin ‘19 from Alsace -Domaine Vacheron, Sancerre Rouge ‘21 -Danbury Ridge, ‘20 from the UK
You got it right! Well done - and massive thank you for the Akarua Pinot Noir. The best pinot I had was from Beaune but I didn't (and wouldn't) pay for it :). I just know it was delicious but overpriced.
. . . They almost all are - and have been for a long while now … “Supply and demand” the Burgundian’s continuously state, and, of course, that is a valid component. However, I have been disappointed more times than not; unlike elsewhere in the wine-growing world.
Interesting video as always. My favourite more inexpensive pinot noir is Neiss Bockenheim Spätburgunder from Pfalz. I pay around 18€ but in Germany it’s more like 13€. Im not very experienced when it comes to Pinot, but I do know that I have disliked most Pinots I have tried from all over the world. Neiss is wonderful, I buy a few bottles whenever I can. If someone feels like pointing me in the direction of other similar Pinots, feel free! Greetings from Sweden
Actually tried the Glockenspiel next to the Bockenheim the day before yesterday and liked both quiet well, even though I had the Bockenheim a bit different in mind when i tasted it on new years eve. Could be another vintage. However both had a pronounced spice to it which made them very interesting but less round at the same time in my opinion. From the few Pinots i tasted so far the Salwey Oberrotweil and the Aldinger Untertürkheimer Gips 1G sticked to my mind. But that‘s also pricewhise a Level up compared to the Neiss I guess. Heared that the Estelmann Pinots from the Pfalz offer a really good value for less that 20€. Really have to try them.
Ancient Oak from California is my favorite Pinot, runs about $40 USD, though I don’t know if you can find it anymore as their vineyards were destroyed in the fires 🙁
Thanks for another great video! Just a video suggestion. It would be awesome to have a line up of expensive Bourgogne level Pinot vs those Davids as well! Those Domaine Leroy and Domaine Georges Roumier Bourgogne Rouge now cost 200+ Euros and I am sure a lot of us is thinking if it is worth to try. Thanks!
Patrica Green is awesome! They produce more individual bottlings of Pinot Noir than any other winery in America! I visited them a few months ago and would highly recommend it.
Me and a colleague opened a bottle of Max Richter's 2021 Spätburgunder and we both really liked it. Light, elegant and refreshing, with a little touch of smoky oakiness. Thank you for the video!
Thank you for doing this. Pinot noir is heaven in a glass when it’s good. Last night we had a bottle of Jean Stodden’s Spatburgunder from 2018. It was a lovely wine and great value at under €30. The wines from New Zealand were my go to Pinot’s for a long time such as Ata Rangi or Fromm but these wines have increased considerably. I will definitely try the Akarua. I have a fair few from Alto Adige which are beautiful. I do buy burgundies and with a bit of research have managed to afford some Premier Crus, but you have to look. Here in Germany I love Konrad Salwey’s wines. They are wonderful and definitely a good alternative to 1er cru burgundy. Great Pinot can become a bit of an obsession but once you have experienced it, there is nothing like it.
I'd love to hear what you think of our Akarua Pinot Noir, so please don't hesitate to send us your feedback. It's always good to know what our consumers think so we can keep improving! Cheers
@@Akaruawinery Hi, I tried the Akarua last night and loved it. This is a lovely wine and well worth the price. It’s very juicy with quite some depth. I loved the cherry and raspberry notes. It’s also very fresh and extremely easy to drink. This is very well made. Thank you. I loved it.
Thanks for another interesting video. My favorite affordable pinot noir, maybe Judith Beck Pinot Noir 2016 from Burgenland, Austria. I think, it was 48 Euros.
Interesting tasting. I don't drink a lot of pinot but I do agree in general that you reach a certain price point where the top regions offer a marginal improvement for a significant jump in price. A favorite affordable pinot of mine is actually from Burgundy. The Dubreuil-Fontaine, Domaine Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Vergelesses rouge 2018 is beautiful. It offers great concentration, a fun and complex nose and the acidity keeps the fuller body in balance. I found it in a shop in Brussels and just ordered a case last night. Premier cru Savigny-les-Beaune still sells for reasonable prices and the good bottles are really a great value. This wine was 32 Euros a bottle plus shipping.
Another great video! My go to region for Pinot at a reasonable price is Oregon and then New Zealand, many excellent producers. Although the only Pinot that has ever made me ask myself those deep questions was a Burgundy Grand Cru! I'm still thirsty!
Very interesting as usual. Maybe you could do a comparison between Portuguese, Bordeaux and some Languedoc reds? Quality versus price should be fun and highly beneficial for wine enthusiasts with reasonable budgets.
Pinot from Northern California, Oregon & some Santa Rita Hills (SoCal) are pretty good with concentration + acid. Many producers are Burgundian without the price tag, especially smaller family wineries. A few that come to mind, albeit on the slightly higher end of the affordable scale: Anthill Farms Comptche Ridge (Anderson/Mendocino); Drew Family Cellars (Anderson/Mendocino); Sander & Hem (Santa Cruz Mountains); St. Innocent (Willamette); J. Rochioli (Russian River); 0 0 Wines (Willamette); Occidental Station Vineyards (Freestone-Occidental); Domaine de la Cote (Santa Rita Hills)
I'm from NZ Great tasting I love your authenticity and that you put yourself out there which indicates you have inner,and well justified, confidence. My favorite pinots are Te Whare Ra from Marlborough in the medium price bracket and with global warming well made Lavaux St Jaques and En la Rue de Vergey from hot vintages like 2020
As a Swiss I tend to look for wines produced in my homecountry and Pinot Noir is one of the dominating grapes. Personally I really like the Pinot noir Vieille Vigne Castel de Daval from Valais and Hedinger Edition from Schaffhausen. Would be really cool to see a video from you on some Swiss Wines, especially some of the autochthon grape varieties like Completer or Petite Arvine.
My favorite bang-for-your-buck Pinot in the last few years has been the Elena Walch Ludwig Pinot Nero from Alto Adige! It’s $50 a bottle, but drinks at a much higher price, quality wise.
Well done !!! Prices of wines from Burgundy have gone MAD ! I have some '95 Bonnes-Mares by G Roumier that is now priced at $5K a bottle !!! Sadly, I can't afford to drink it !
I live in kind of a small market so I've got to take what I can get, but lately I have found a halfway decent Sonoma county pinot called Copain, 2016. A lot of variance between bottles but I've found some good ones and they are $32 usd.
Recently, I enjoyed so much the Pinots from Sanford and Au Bon Climat, both from Santa Rita Hill AVA, California. Not that inexpensive, running from about $50 to $80. Reminded very much of very good Burgundy wines
I'm far from an expert and just an enjoyer of wine. So I haven't tried as many Pinot Noir's as most of you probably have. So I would say my favourite so far is "Louis Jadot Bourgogne Pinot Noir". Than you for all your great videos. :)
Great video - PN fan and the global range is huge…Farr Cote or Tout Pres of about 2016-17 are my favorite reasonably priced PN…of course a Echezeaux would be ok but drinking a small reasonable car equivalent in price is just dumb…tasty but dumb. Had a 2016 Sonoma Trombetta last week and it was better than beer.
I drink Some very good " Pinot's" from thé south of France. Specially AT thé side of Limoux. They plant in thé beginning for thé " crémant" production and finally make some interesting red Wine.
Great video- Pinot is my favorite red wine. While I love red burgundy, I just cannot afford it. Even the most modest wines arrive at my price threshold of about $50. Cobb, Failla, Hirsch, Eyrie, Walter Scott are some of my favorites but even these producers are creeping into 50-80 range. There are an awful lot of new pinot producers out there in California and I don't think there is a firm market for all of them as I am often able to pick up rather unknown producers at deep discounts- not all are great but I am able to find some wonderful wines in the 20-30 range with enough regularity that I drink pinot at least once a week.
There isn't a lot of good mexican pinot, but i would recommend trying pinot from Sierra de Arteaga in Coahuila, Bodegas del Viento is my top favorite and secondly Don Leo, hope you can try these out someday. Keep up the good work!
I once organized a blind tasting of Burgundy pinot noir. The winner was the "black horse", an Australian bottle from Coldstream Hills. It cost only around 25€ in Finland and beat out a 130€ Gevrey-Chambertain and several other high-cost bottles. Burgundy is sadly overpriced for the quality and like this video showed, you need to fork over ridiculous amounts of money for the best stuff.
Thanks for the video. Affordable Pinot Noir? Sutherland Pinot Noir from Thelema Mountain Vineyards in South Africa. It's very much a Burgundy style and costs around €25 per bottle, although a wine merchant I know has it as part of a mixed 6 at around €16. Julicher Estate Pinot Noir from Martinborough in New Zealand. Costs around €28. Very classy for the price.
I'd love to see how that Burg holds up to some of the other top bottlings Kosta Brown sells for over $200, Egly-Ouriet has a still Coteaux Champagnoise, maybe Keller GG, Pooley or Bass Phillip from Oz...
We did a paired up varietal expensive vs affordable. More 60 dollars vs less than 40 dollars taste off. Out of 15 people. We were able to identify the expensive wines in blind tasting and aside from Malbec. We all preferred the expensive wines. Out of reiesling chardonnay syrah grenache merlot and Pinot
This might be my #1 favorite video of your, Konstantin & Leon! The Goliath 😉. Really good burgundy is now officially out of my budget, and the Davids are of great interest to me. Thank you!
Its hard to find good Pinots below 20€ here in Sweden and there arent that many to choose from so I have tried a very limited amount maby around 5-10 different. One of the better I´ve had is Neiss Spätburgunder Bockenheim from Pfalz, its around 20€.
There are still some Bourgogne wines from Burgundy that are great and affordable, like Jean-Michel Guillon Bourgogne Les Gravers which is 35 bucks and crazy good or Dureuil Janthial's entry Rully Pinot is really special . And from Germany, Huber and Christmann make some great entry Pinots that can compete with Burgundy too!
A very informative -- and entertaining -- video. I am not surprised that there were no California wines in the tasting as, in my experience, pinots do not do well there.
I am a big fan of German Pinot Noir aka Spätburgunder (e.g. Krone Assmannshausen, Bernhard Koch, Karl-Heinz Johner, Salwey). The last amazing Pinot Noir in terms of price-performance was "Reinhold & Cornelia Schneider, 2017 Spätburgunder ***". A great wine for me. Unfortunately, the vintages are somewhat variable in quality, so you should taste each vintage and can't buy blind.
Akarua is great, but you should try Amisfield, Misha’s Vineyard, and many others from Central Otago. Outstanding Pinot Noirs, and they all have their localised differences.
I had a beaune 1er cru and a Willamette valley some days ago. Despite the differences, I think it’s not worth to pay twice as much for the burgundy. Brazil is also not a great place to buy wine, since prices are much higher than in other places. I like a lot Argentinian Pinots that are a lot more affordable here.
Very nice video. We always enjoy seeing you being challenged. However, in the method you wrap the bottles, you could get some clue from the top of the bottle, especially if they're screwcap. A simple suggestion to make it real blind is to use winedisc, and wrap all of the bottle's neck. Very inexpensive, keeps your same workflow, less messy and more fun for us when you can't get clue that this should be a new world wine from the screwcap closure. Cheers! 😅
Well in a way it’s comforting that the Burgundian Goliath wins, there’s something special about ‘em have to say, and my all time best Pinots and Chardonnays have all been from Burgundy. But my are they getting pricy! A 1er Cru from a famous appellation is entering forget-about-it territory, never mind the grand crus. Great series and hoping for a Bordeaux blend edition next !
It would be interesting if you could source some Swiss pinot noirs. They are very hard to get outside the country, since they don't export very much. But the quality can be very very good, rivalling any of the main players. In particular, pinot noir from around Neuchatel and from Graubünden.
Coteaux Champenois from Drappier is a light fruity and velvety Pinot Noir. 12,5° and 30€. I really enjoyed it. A fun fact is that it is bottled like a Champagne, with a massive cork that you can take off with your hand, no corkscrew needed.
An interesting comparison would be 3 of the same wines from different price points or stratifications/appellations Could camouflage it in a Burgundy or Bordeaux tasting
My favorite affordable PN depends on where I am in the world. In Asia it was entry or mid-level PN from New Zealand, Australia or South Africa. In Europe it would probably be German PN, as it is the largest producer outside of France and there is a wide variety of styles and price points. I think that unless you are independently wealthy or have a high level of passive income, plus a great salary Burgundy above the Villages level is just too expensive. Also I've heard that it can be hit and miss, so when you are spending 250/300 or more US$, pounds or euros it's too much of a gamble, IMHO. Cheers and great video.
It would be so fun to taste some wines blind with you! I do them with friends and colleagues but we are not quite as insightful. I have had a few affordable pinots lately. But my favorite would probably be a 2015 Fixin Les Petits Crais from Jean Fournier. I paid 30€ for it and it was fantastic.
Get 30% off your first box, plus a FREE gift, when you give Tiege Hanley a try at tiege.com/kbtaste
would be also an interesting video to compare gutswein, ortswein and GG from the same producers
Great idea!
Or just Gutsweine from different producers in the same region, same vintage.
Yes, please!
Or German pinot vs burgundy 🤼♂️
GG Allin. Sorry
We are delighted that you enjoyed our Akarua Pinot 2021, thank you for your comments and the score!
We look forward to sending you our other vintages. Cheers #Akaruateam
fun stuff k-man. lets admit this up front. most of us are here to get some recommendations for wine that punches above its price point. for me a 40$ bottle is about my limit of diminishing returns. let the super rich and celebs drink the over priced burgundy, i can thoroughly enjoy a $30 bottle with my dinner. its nice to see an expert agree on this subject. why throw away money.
As a huge burgundy and pinot noir fan, the Akarua from Bannockburn is an astonishing wine. I live in Paris but I visited their winery in Otago and €30 is a good price and incredible value. They have a "Siren" limited edition that is quite a bit more expensive and maybe a couple of points better, but in a world where we are searching for affordable pinot outside of Burgendy, this is a real gem. Cheers.
Hey Lucifer, thank you very much for your comment, it's always a pleasure to get direct feedback from our wine lovers. Cheers!
Another great video! You are so good at your craft and at your ability to make each video so entertaining. I have learned much from watching your videos and have gained a greater appreciation for the 'wine world'. I can't get enough of the blind tastings and hope that they will always have a place in your channel. Thanks for sharing.
I love blind tasting! And I really admire and appreciate for putting yourself out there and not be afraid to make mistake. This is more enjoyable than seeing an expert talk about wines that they already know based on the label
My favorite pinots at the moment are from Domaine Drouhin in Oregon. The family is French and has been producing pinot in Burgundy for several generations. They have several different pinots from all their properties.
LOVE Domaine Drouhin's Pinots that are still "reasonably" priced... !!! Veronique has done a SUPERB job !
they are delicious
I love any Pinot from a small producer called Kessler-Haak in the Santa Rita Hills near Santa Barbara, CA! They are affordable and delicious
South Africa: Hamilton Russell. It's a shame I have to go there to get any.
Australia: Providence Miguet, from Northern Tasmania. I've not had one in more than a decade and I lost track of this vineyard. I think it still exists.
New Zealand: Coal Pit Tiwha, Central Otago. Pinot for Shiraz fans.
I wouldn't claim that any of these are the best, but I have enjoyed them greatly.
I've been trying a lot of wines from Côte Chalonnaise recently and have found some great value in 1er cru wines. Most recently we sampled four 1er cru offerings from Mercurey, all under $60 and all excellent wines.
Great video as always Konstantin, please make more of these videos with tasting the wine from the same grape variety from different regions/at different price points! Very exciting!
Favourite affordable Pinot? Red Claw from Yabby Lake for the morning peninsula in Australia. AUD30
My favourite affordable pinot right now is the Te Kairanga runholder which is $40 in Australia, about €25. New Zealand shines for value pinot.
Agree - TK is a bargain with very high value !!
I really enjoyed your video. Blind tastings are so much fun and i respect your palette. That was very helpful for me to evaluate wine and not go for the obvious choices! Prost!
Living in the US, California Pinot is my go to wine of choice. Occidental SWK is my high end favorite, Dragonette Bentrock is my mid price wine.
I just finished off some Pinot wine from Santenay that I found to be light but earthy in that European style. It was quite enjoyable and affordable.
Favourite pinot would be anything from Joseph Drouhin in Burgundy, this is my absolute favourite winery in the region!
I enjoy Mark West Pinot. California made. It has a unique earthiness to it. And it's inexpensive!
Thanks for another excellent video.
I love German Pinot/Spätburgunder. My local wineshop imports the wines of three estates, two VDPs (Wagner-Stempel and Dautel) which both have great pinots, but for the great price/quality I usually purchase the wines from Steitz, which (unfairly if you ask me) does not have VDP-status. Especially their Eichelberg Spätburgunder is excellent and only sets you back 23 euros.
I have found some outstanding and affordable examples from Patagonia in Argentina
Wonderful episode.
Patricia is smiling that her legacy continues despite her unexpected passing several years ago.
Hope that you can attend INPC one of these years to enjoy Burgundy defend their throne against the challengers around the world.
love these David vs. Goliath videos! keep them coming!!
Loved this tasting! I like how you demystify the process of blindly identifying wines. My favorite affordable pinot is a Pinot Nero from Tentino-Alto-Adige. Favorite affordable(ish) pinots are from Baden (Dr. Heger!) and NZ. I LOVE the KIWI pinot style. I know you can only do 6 wines but I would have loved to see some more old world pinot in this tasting. Maybe very good village level burgundy, Reuilly (Loire), Alsace, or Italy (Alto Adige and Tuscany produce some great PN). Did you know they even make non sparkling PN in Champagne?
Fun video, thank you! I really enjoy your humorous, no bullshit approach.
Nice group of pinots and excellent analysis of the regions/styles. Sounds wonderful. Patricia Green is the only wine I'm familiar with although I do have a couple bottles of Dugat-Py. I drink a lot of bourgognes and one I find well-priced and delicious is Michel Rebourgeon.
I really enjoyed Decoy’s Pinot Noir , it’s from sonoma county and quite good! Here in my country is sold at $28 or so.
Great video, i can highly recommend Swiss pinots if you haven't tried them. Most of the production ends up staying inside the country because of high price point but I think there is better value to be found here than in Burgundy! Cheers
Very nice video, many thanks. I’ve recently tasted 3 different Pinots worth mentioning:
-Domaine Mure, Clos St Landelin ‘19 from Alsace
-Domaine Vacheron, Sancerre Rouge ‘21
-Danbury Ridge, ‘20 from the UK
Thumbs up the Vacheron
You got it right! Well done - and massive thank you for the Akarua Pinot Noir. The best pinot I had was from Beaune but I didn't (and wouldn't) pay for it :). I just know it was delicious but overpriced.
. . . They almost all are - and have been for a long while now … “Supply and demand” the Burgundian’s continuously state, and, of course, that is a valid component. However, I have been disappointed more times than not; unlike elsewhere in the wine-growing world.
Interesting video as always. My favourite more inexpensive pinot noir is Neiss Bockenheim Spätburgunder from Pfalz. I pay around 18€ but in Germany it’s more like 13€. Im not very experienced when it comes to Pinot, but I do know that I have disliked most Pinots I have tried from all over the world. Neiss is wonderful, I buy a few bottles whenever I can. If someone feels like pointing me in the direction of other similar Pinots, feel free!
Greetings from Sweden
Actually tried the Glockenspiel next to the Bockenheim the day before yesterday and liked both quiet well, even though I had the Bockenheim a bit different in mind when i tasted it on new years eve. Could be another vintage. However both had a pronounced spice to it which made them very interesting but less round at the same time in my opinion.
From the few Pinots i tasted so far the Salwey Oberrotweil and the Aldinger Untertürkheimer Gips 1G sticked to my mind. But that‘s also pricewhise a Level up compared to the Neiss I guess.
Heared that the Estelmann Pinots from the Pfalz offer a really good value for less that 20€. Really have to try them.
My favorite Pinot is Erath from Oregon. Very earthy, fruity forward but dry.
Ancient Oak from California is my favorite Pinot, runs about $40 USD, though I don’t know if you can find it anymore as their vineyards were destroyed in the fires 🙁
Thanks for another great video!
Just a video suggestion. It would be awesome to have a line up of expensive Bourgogne level Pinot vs those Davids as well!
Those Domaine Leroy and Domaine Georges Roumier Bourgogne Rouge now cost 200+ Euros and I am sure a lot of us is thinking if it is worth to try. Thanks!
My favorite Pinot Noir these days is Melville Estate Pinot from Sta. Rita Hills California. Around $45.
Can’t go wrong with Melville. Great combo of ripe but fresh fruit, some spice and lift.
For some of the recent encounters, Laurent Ponsot's regional level chardonnay was quite nice. Still affordable but closely matching village+ quality
Patrica Green is awesome! They produce more individual bottlings of Pinot Noir than any other winery in America! I visited them a few months ago and would highly recommend it.
Me and a colleague opened a bottle of Max Richter's 2021 Spätburgunder and we both really liked it. Light, elegant and refreshing, with a little touch of smoky oakiness. Thank you for the video!
Thank you for doing this. Pinot noir is heaven in a glass when it’s good. Last night we had a bottle of Jean Stodden’s Spatburgunder from 2018. It was a lovely wine and great value at under €30. The wines from New Zealand were my go to Pinot’s for a long time such as Ata Rangi or Fromm but these wines have increased considerably. I will definitely try the Akarua. I have a fair few from Alto Adige which are beautiful. I do buy burgundies and with a bit of research have managed to afford some Premier Crus, but you have to look. Here in Germany I love Konrad Salwey’s wines. They are wonderful and definitely a good alternative to 1er cru burgundy. Great Pinot can become a bit of an obsession but once you have experienced it, there is nothing like it.
I'd love to hear what you think of our Akarua Pinot Noir, so please don't hesitate to send us your feedback. It's always good to know what our consumers think so we can keep improving!
Cheers
@@Akaruawinery Hi, I tried the Akarua last night and loved it. This is a lovely wine and well worth the price. It’s very juicy with quite some depth. I loved the cherry and raspberry notes. It’s also very fresh and extremely easy to drink. This is very well made. Thank you. I loved it.
Thanks for another interesting video.
My favorite affordable pinot noir, maybe Judith Beck Pinot Noir 2016 from Burgenland, Austria. I think, it was 48 Euros.
Interesting tasting. I don't drink a lot of pinot but I do agree in general that you reach a certain price point where the top regions offer a marginal improvement for a significant jump in price. A favorite affordable pinot of mine is actually from Burgundy.
The Dubreuil-Fontaine, Domaine Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Vergelesses rouge 2018 is beautiful. It offers great concentration, a fun and complex nose and the acidity keeps the fuller body in balance. I found it in a shop in Brussels and just ordered a case last night. Premier cru Savigny-les-Beaune still sells for reasonable prices and the good bottles are really a great value. This wine was 32 Euros a bottle plus shipping.
Another great video! My go to region for Pinot at a reasonable price is Oregon and then New Zealand, many excellent producers. Although the only Pinot that has ever made me ask myself those deep questions was a Burgundy Grand Cru! I'm still thirsty!
Would love to know which Portuguese red can be a Petrus…! Share the secret! 😅
Very interesting as usual. Maybe you could do a comparison between Portuguese, Bordeaux and some Languedoc reds? Quality versus price should be fun and highly beneficial for wine enthusiasts with reasonable budgets.
Great vid. I like your work. Thankyou.
Holcene makes some amazing Oregon pinot. The best i've personally experienced so far!
Fascinating. I ❤ this channel. Learning so much. Inspirational! Thank you 😊
In France, there is some affordable Pinot in the Loire...Sancerre..Alsace has started having some interesting Pinot also
A Pinot from Central Otago, like the Bannockburn you had in your tasting. Two Paddock, Rockburn, Terra Sancta, Mt Difficulty
Good job, Konstantin! Now, does Leon get to share? That Burgundian pinot will be sheer poetry.
He often does
Favourite go-to Pinots? Enderle & Moll and Knipser.
Never tried E&M before but it‘s on my List for quiet a while
Pinot from Northern California, Oregon & some Santa Rita Hills (SoCal) are pretty good with concentration + acid. Many producers are Burgundian without the price tag, especially smaller family wineries. A few that come to mind, albeit on the slightly higher end of the affordable scale: Anthill Farms Comptche Ridge (Anderson/Mendocino); Drew Family Cellars (Anderson/Mendocino); Sander & Hem (Santa Cruz Mountains); St. Innocent (Willamette); J. Rochioli (Russian River); 0 0 Wines (Willamette); Occidental Station Vineyards (Freestone-Occidental); Domaine de la Cote (Santa Rita Hills)
I love spätburgunders from Weingut Salwey - super good and at least so far priced so that we all can afford them.
I'm from NZ
Great tasting I love your authenticity and that you put yourself out there which indicates you have inner,and well justified, confidence.
My favorite pinots are Te Whare Ra from Marlborough in the medium price bracket and with global warming well made Lavaux St Jaques and En la Rue de Vergey from hot
vintages like 2020
With luxury products you pay exponentially more for an incremental increase in percieved quality. It would be interesting to log scale the prices
You can't drop that bomb saying a portuguese wine that is like Petrus and dont say what wine it is!!!!! This is torture!!!
The best value might well be the Rheingau Pinot.
Thank you sir! An interesting tasting! 👍
As a Swiss I tend to look for wines produced in my homecountry and Pinot Noir is one of the dominating grapes.
Personally I really like the Pinot noir Vieille Vigne Castel de Daval from Valais and Hedinger Edition from Schaffhausen.
Would be really cool to see a video from you on some Swiss Wines, especially some of the autochthon grape varieties like Completer or Petite Arvine.
Bass Philip ‘Since 1979’ Pinot from Leongatha, South Gippsland Australia. $50. The estates entry level. Great stuff.
My favorite bang-for-your-buck Pinot in the last few years has been the Elena Walch Ludwig Pinot Nero from Alto Adige! It’s $50 a bottle, but drinks at a much higher price, quality wise.
walch is my darling! her chardonnay=meursault 1er cru...
@@jerzystruczak782 Which one of the Chardonnay's?
SELEZIONE?
Another fantastic tasting sir/you were on fire again ( I'm not counting the S. African obviously 😮)... Fantastic Pinot from Central Otago 👍
Well done !!! Prices of wines from Burgundy have gone MAD ! I have some '95 Bonnes-Mares by G Roumier that is now priced at $5K a bottle !!! Sadly, I can't afford to drink it !
I live in kind of a small market so I've got to take what I can get, but lately I have found a halfway decent Sonoma county pinot called Copain, 2016. A lot of variance between bottles but I've found some good ones and they are $32 usd.
Recently, I enjoyed so much the Pinots from Sanford and Au Bon Climat, both from Santa Rita Hill AVA, California. Not that inexpensive, running from about $50 to $80. Reminded very much of very good Burgundy wines
Great tasting. I recently tried a mid level Pinot from Paringa Estate in the Mornington Peninsula Australia. Loved it. Have you been to Mornington?
I'm far from an expert and just an enjoyer of wine. So I haven't tried as many Pinot Noir's as most of you probably have. So I would say my favourite so far is "Louis Jadot Bourgogne Pinot Noir". Than you for all your great videos. :)
Great video - PN fan and the global range is huge…Farr Cote or Tout Pres of about 2016-17 are my favorite reasonably priced PN…of course a Echezeaux would be ok but drinking a small reasonable car equivalent in price is just dumb…tasty but dumb. Had a 2016 Sonoma Trombetta last week and it was better than beer.
Love that series, more please!
I drink Some very good " Pinot's" from thé south of France. Specially AT thé side of Limoux. They plant in thé beginning for thé " crémant" production and finally make some interesting red Wine.
Gevrey Chambertin is my favorite but it is nice to have some really good alternatives that fit the wallet.
Great video- Pinot is my favorite red wine. While I love red burgundy, I just cannot afford it. Even the most modest wines arrive at my price threshold of about $50. Cobb, Failla, Hirsch, Eyrie, Walter Scott are some of my favorites but even these producers are creeping into 50-80 range. There are an awful lot of new pinot producers out there in California and I don't think there is a firm market for all of them as I am often able to pick up rather unknown producers at deep discounts- not all are great but I am able to find some wonderful wines in the 20-30 range with enough regularity that I drink pinot at least once a week.
Can also highly recommend Domain Mure Pinot Noir ”V”
from Alsace. A lot of ageing potential but also nice to drink now!
There isn't a lot of good mexican pinot, but i would recommend trying pinot from Sierra de Arteaga in Coahuila, Bodegas del Viento is my top favorite and secondly Don Leo, hope you can try these out someday.
Keep up the good work!
I once organized a blind tasting of Burgundy pinot noir. The winner was the "black horse", an Australian bottle from Coldstream Hills. It cost only around 25€ in Finland and beat out a 130€ Gevrey-Chambertain and several other high-cost bottles. Burgundy is sadly overpriced for the quality and like this video showed, you need to fork over ridiculous amounts of money for the best stuff.
Thanks for the video.
Affordable Pinot Noir?
Sutherland Pinot Noir from Thelema Mountain Vineyards in South Africa. It's very much a Burgundy style and costs around €25 per bottle, although a wine merchant I know has it as part of a mixed 6 at around €16.
Julicher Estate Pinot Noir from Martinborough in New Zealand. Costs around €28. Very classy for the price.
Ocean 8 mornington peninsula pinot noir is very nice and one of the best ive tried lately!
Have you tried River’s Marie Pinot from Sonoma? Wine maker is Thomas Rivers Brown
I'd love to see how that Burg holds up to some of the other top bottlings
Kosta Brown sells for over $200, Egly-Ouriet has a still Coteaux Champagnoise, maybe Keller GG, Pooley or Bass Phillip from Oz...
Affordable Pinot for me is Berthaut Gerbet Fixin Les Cras!
Unbelievable quality for a red burgundy under £40
We did a paired up varietal expensive vs affordable. More 60 dollars vs less than 40 dollars taste off. Out of 15 people. We were able to identify the expensive wines in blind tasting and aside from Malbec. We all preferred the expensive wines. Out of reiesling chardonnay syrah grenache merlot and Pinot
This might be my #1 favorite video of your, Konstantin & Leon! The Goliath 😉. Really good burgundy is now officially out of my budget, and the Davids are of great interest to me. Thank you!
Its hard to find good Pinots below 20€ here in Sweden and there arent that many to choose from so I have tried a very limited amount maby around 5-10 different. One of the better I´ve had is
Neiss Spätburgunder Bockenheim from Pfalz, its around 20€.
My favorite Pinot (had a bottle last night) is Bachelder (Wismer-Parke) Pinot Noir from Niagara, Canada. You should try it!!
There are still some Bourgogne wines from Burgundy that are great and affordable, like Jean-Michel Guillon Bourgogne Les Gravers which is 35 bucks and crazy good or Dureuil Janthial's entry Rully Pinot is really special . And from Germany, Huber and Christmann make some great entry Pinots that can compete with Burgundy too!
A very informative -- and entertaining -- video. I am not surprised that there were no California wines in the tasting as, in my experience, pinots do not do well there.
I am a big fan of German Pinot Noir aka Spätburgunder (e.g. Krone Assmannshausen, Bernhard Koch, Karl-Heinz Johner, Salwey).
The last amazing Pinot Noir in terms of price-performance was "Reinhold & Cornelia Schneider, 2017 Spätburgunder ***". A great wine for me. Unfortunately, the vintages are somewhat variable in quality, so you should taste each vintage and can't buy blind.
I would go for Au Bon Climat, Santa Barbara County. (just) less than £30 a bottle in the UK and delicious
Great tasting & reveal 🙂 I stumbled on Domaine Nico recently & it was delicious, a real nice surprise! 🍷
Akarua is great, but you should try Amisfield, Misha’s Vineyard, and many others from Central Otago. Outstanding Pinot Noirs, and they all have their localised differences.
I had a beaune 1er cru and a Willamette valley some days ago. Despite the differences, I think it’s not worth to pay twice as much for the burgundy. Brazil is also not a great place to buy wine, since prices are much higher than in other places. I like a lot Argentinian Pinots that are a lot more affordable here.
Very nice video. We always enjoy seeing you being challenged. However, in the method you wrap the bottles, you could get some clue from the top of the bottle, especially if they're screwcap. A simple suggestion to make it real blind is to use winedisc, and wrap all of the bottle's neck. Very inexpensive, keeps your same workflow, less messy and more fun for us when you can't get clue that this should be a new world wine from the screwcap closure. Cheers! 😅
great wine tasting🙌😉! curious what are the criteria your team select the vintages...
Well in a way it’s comforting that the Burgundian Goliath wins, there’s something special about ‘em have to say, and my all time best Pinots and Chardonnays have all been from Burgundy. But my are they getting pricy! A 1er Cru from a famous appellation is entering forget-about-it territory, never mind the grand crus. Great series and hoping for a Bordeaux blend edition next !
It would be interesting if you could source some Swiss pinot noirs. They are very hard to get outside the country, since they don't export very much. But the quality can be very very good, rivalling any of the main players. In particular, pinot noir from around Neuchatel and from Graubünden.
Coteaux Champenois from Drappier is a light fruity and velvety Pinot Noir. 12,5° and 30€. I really enjoyed it. A fun fact is that it is bottled like a Champagne, with a massive cork that you can take off with your hand, no corkscrew needed.
An interesting comparison would be 3 of the same wines from different price points or stratifications/appellations Could camouflage it in a Burgundy or Bordeaux tasting
My favorite affordable PN depends on where I am in the world. In Asia it was entry or mid-level PN from New Zealand, Australia or South Africa. In Europe it would probably be German PN, as it is the largest producer outside of France and there is a wide variety of styles and price points. I think that unless you are independently wealthy or have a high level of passive income, plus a great salary Burgundy above the Villages level is just too expensive. Also I've heard that it can be hit and miss, so when you are spending 250/300 or more US$, pounds or euros it's too much of a gamble, IMHO. Cheers and great video.
Currently my favourite very affordable pinot is the Reichsrat von Buhl Pfalz Spätburgunder Trocken.
I just love watching this guy drinking wine and talking....
It would be so fun to taste some wines blind with you! I do them with friends and colleagues but we are not quite as insightful.
I have had a few affordable pinots lately. But my favorite would probably be a 2015 Fixin Les Petits Crais from Jean Fournier. I paid 30€ for it and it was fantastic.
Cristom ‘s entry level Mt Jeff cuvée is always great affordable pinot, it is from Williamette Valley Oregon
Agree! Excellent wine!