It’s no secret that I love my Pinot Noir, and because this is the perfect time of the year for red wine drinkers to imbibe in lighter juice, I decided to open up this recently-reduced gal a few nights ago in order to satisfy my curiosity. I say recently-reduced because the former price for this wine at various Costco clubs in North Georgia was $34.99, while it is currently available for $27.99. That’s a 20% price reduction folks.
I had a few Willamette Valley pinots recently that I was nearly obsessed with (2012 Roco & 2010 Ken Wright Cellars “Meredith Vineyard”), and these flavor bombs may have influenced my impression of the more-restrained, Burgundian-style Pinot Noir that I found in the Shea Estate “Shea Vineyard” pinot.
Shea Wine Cellars is named after Dick Shea, who before moving to Oregon and planting Shea Vineyard in 1989, worked on Wall Street in New York City for years. Shea Wine Cellars was established in 1996 and has been producing excellent Pinot Noir & Chardonnay ever since. You may have seen “Shea Vineyard” on other top Oregon Pinot Noir labels, and this is because the winery currently uses only 25% of the vineyard’s production for their own effort. They sell the rest off to the likes of Bergstrom, Penner-Ash, and Ken Wright Cellars, amongst others. The vineyard itself is located in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA and sits on sedimentary soil over fractured sandstone.
I will pause here for a moment to note that Pinot Noir is a grape that is very sensitive to the area in which it is grown. It is excellent in expressing terrior, and this is why we see so many single vineyard Pinot Noir wines. Winemakers believe that each vineyard’s fruit expression is unique to the point that they often don’t want to blend different vineyards together. It behooves you to learn which soil type, or vineyard site, your Pinot is coming from because if you really like the wine, chances are you will like other Pinots from these areas.
Pinot Noir grown on sedimentary soil often produces wines that are powerful and well-structured with black fruit, cola, and coffee flavors. If you like a more full-bodied and robust Pinot Noir, choosing one from Shea Vineyard might be the right move for you.
The 2013 Shea Estate Pinot Noir that I bought took three days to open. Granted, I did use a rubber stopper to pump out the air each evening which delayed the process (or extended the life of the wine?). But I think the more important question here is: Why did it take me three days to drink a bottle of pinot? I just wasn’t that into it, to be honest. I had heard nothing but rave reviews of the wine from my peers and various Costco members, but I felt that the wine lacked the depth, complexity, and fruit concentration that I look for in a pinot at this price point. Each evening I had hoped that I would feel differently, or that the wine would have changed, and finally on the third night, the acidity seemed to mellow so that the fruit could shine just a little bit more.
Wine Spectator gives the 2013 Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir 88 points while the previous vintage scored 91 points. Wine Enthusiast gave the 2013 vintage 91 Points and Vivino users rate it 4.1 points and list an average price of $43.99. I give this wine 87 Points.
CostcoWineBlog.com rating: 87 Points
ABV: 13.3%
Josh
Sunday 11th of June 2017
Totally agree with you - I'm not into this. Other places have it, and I've steered clear. The 2012 wasn't "bad", just that this isn't my cup of tea. I'd rather spend $18-19 on the Schug.
srh
Sunday 28th of May 2017
Erin, the local shop where I tasted this on May 20th has it for about the same price: $27.95. It's most definitely a "bigger" style that I felt needs cellaring into '18, possibly '19, then drinking for several yrs more. Tasting it @ the shop over a span of ~ 3 hrs, I felt it might well turn out to be a steal. :)
marino
Saturday 27th of May 2017
typos! sorry!: when we are talking about Pinot Noir at $30-$50 I start laughing ! .. cost is what somebody pays in regards to passion also, BUT if IT IS MADE IN "3 days" it means ALSO that is easy to replicate and therefore NOT CARRYING that value that is pushing edges ! .. Pinot Noir is a Wine to never spend more than $20 ! Conversely even a $300 year 2000 Brunello IF is NOT GOOD it is worth less than those $20 !! IT is a COMPROMISE that it belongs to the Journey of becoming expert in "general" and expert of your own “boccato” (if you know what it means). If somebody understands wines, it will understand precisely the word MARKETING !
marino
Saturday 27th of May 2017
when we are talking about Pinot Noir at $30-$50 I start laughing ! .. cost is what somebody pays in regards to passion also BUT if IT IS MADE IN 3 days it mains that is easy to replicate and therefore NOT CARRYING that value that is pushing edges ! .. Pinot Noir is a Wine to never spend more than $20 ! Conversely even a $300 2000 Brunello IF is NOT GOOD it is worth $20 !! IT is a COMPROMISE that it belongs to the Jorney of becoming expert in general and expert of your own “boccato” (if you know what it means). If somebody understands wines, it will understand precisely the word MARKETING !
Cheri
Saturday 27th of May 2017
I generally don't care for Pinot noire (for some reason it tends to give me a headache, and besides that I just don't like the flavor) but I think that the Belle Glos Dairyman is divine! Do you know how I would go about finding similar wines? Are there any at Costco that might be similar? Thanks!
Erin Hayes
Saturday 27th of May 2017
Hi Cheri, I have had Belle Glos pinot as well, and its a great big cab-like pinot I think. Other bigger pinots that I've had is Diora, Chasseur Freestone Station, and Sequana. These are all in the $30-$60 range. If you want to go lower, try Meoimi or Elouan. Cheers and thanks for reading!