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There’s a new Willamette Valley Pinot Noir in town…

A New Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Choice
I’m a big Pinot Noir fan, and one piece of advice that rings true with the vast majority of Pinot Noirs I’ve tasted is this:

It’s very difficult to find high quality Pinot Noir for under $20

For my dollar, your best bet for a high quality Pinot Noir at a reasonable price is Oregon’s Willamette Valley. A cooler climate than most in California, plus a long dry summer with lots of daylight hours, produces a Pinot that is exactly what I expect from the grape: pale red color, fruit aromas from the red fruits (raspberry, cherry, strawberry), with medium+ acidity and just a bit of tannin.

Recently, April from Sacred Drop contacted me with an offer to try a new Pinot Noir made by a friend of hers. She explained the wine is aimed at a value-conscious price point, but decidedly high quality. I wondered if it could be done. Turns out, it can! I had the opportunity to enjoy two sample bottles and I was impressed. This wine doesn’t cross the $20 barrier, but you might find it on sale….

Black Magnolia Winery
The Black Magnolia Winery is new, they don’t own any vineyards, they share winery space and spend very little on advertising or promotion. Just samples to wine bloggers I guess, good choice! They are careful to source good quality fruit, and they do specify the vineyard sources for this wine.  As it is drawn from multiple vineyards, the bottle correctly specifies the wine as “Willamette Valley”.

Black Magnolia Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Black Magnolia Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2015 (winery sample, $22 suggested retail)
Eye: Clear, pale ruby with a cool edge.
Nose: Clean, cinnamon first, then strawberries
Mouth: Dry, medium body, medium+ acidity, medium- tannins. Cinnamon & strawberries, medium finish.
Flavor intensity was medium-. On the lean side, not rich & ripe, but still nice. Overall, a very nice Pinot Noir and representative of Willamette Valley. A good value at $22.

Black Magnolia Pinot Noir at the Dinner Table
Pinot Noir is such a versatile wine with food, easily stretching from oven roasted chicken to grilled salmon, even to steak or roasted red meats. We paired our Black Magnolia with an easy 1 pan meal: Sheet Pan Chicken with Mushrooms and parsley sauce recipe from Food and Wine magazine, here. To make the meal truly 1 pan, I added red potatoes to the mix so we could have our protein, veggies and starch all in 1 pan, no kidding. True to form, the Black Magnolia paired beautifully with all the components of the dish, even the brussels sprouts tasted good with the wine.

Disclosure: I received the Black Magnolia Pinot Noir as a media sample. The food pairing choice and all opinions expressed are mine.