Winey Tasting Notes: Route 152 Pinot Noir – Get There First

I am of the firm mind that a good Pinot Noir is a wonderful thing to find…but that doesn’t mean it is an easy search. So a few weeks ago, I was sitting at a wine tasting dinner, just minding my own taste buds, when a good…no, dare I say…great Pinot Noir just plopped right down in front of me.

To be honest, it didn’t do this on its own. It had help. And it didn’t quite “plop” down either. The server actually gently placed it in front of me, right next to that course’s pairing of artichoke and chicken sauté. But there it was: one of those wines that made me exclaim, “Wow! Honey, we’re buying some of this.” (Honey is The Winey Hubby, by the way. Not the server.) It didn’t hurt that we were one week away from Thanksgiving and I had yet to decide on a wine to go with my turkey.

The Pinot Noir in question is Route 152 (14.4%, 2012, Central Coast, CA), from Pietra Santa Winery. According to the label, Route 152 was once part of the Oxbow Trail, a California stagecoach route. Thankfully, no stagecoaches were on the menu for that evening’s tasting (I don’t think I’d do real well in a stagecoach). But I digress. Route 152 is a very pretty red color, with aromas of cherry blossoms and red berries. It had flavors of red cherry and strawberry and raspberry and a touch of vanilla oak. It was bright and full of flavors and feels like a thin silk ribbon in the mouth. I liked it at first sip, which was why I turned to The Winey Hubby with the bottle order. This Pinot had great possibilities!

Those possibilities were confirmed the next week when I brought out my bottles of Route 152 on Thanksgiving. And that was pretty much the last I saw of them. To say they were a huge hit was an understatement. I had sort of forgotten that we had added another red wine drinker to the mix (yes, The Winey Son has recently come over to the red side…quite happily too, I might add) and how much we really did like red wine and having fun and sipping and talking and all of a sudden there was none left for the very deserving (and rather thirsty) cook. Luckily, I had a stash of some very nice Chardonnay that I had opened to use as part of my culinary greatness that day. So I had to settle for that. And by settle I mean I didn’t share it. So there.

But I am determined to get me some more Route 152. And since it’s in the $10-$11 range, I can get a few bottles. And hide one. Or get to it first this time. After all, Christmas IS coming.

Cheers!!