Starting the Fall with Pinot Noir and Petite Sirah

Now that fall is here, for the cool and cold seasons (hopefully) over the next 6 months I'm going to drink pinot noirs and petite sirahs.  Now, I'm not sure I've ever drunk petite sirah in my life so this will be entirely new territory.  I'm excited.

I started with pinot noir last fall but didn't get very far, just a half dozen bottles or so before my blog petered out for a while.  I just didn't like it.  But since it's so popular I decided I should give it a second chance.  I'm guessing that one issue last year was I should have been spending a little more for better pinots, so this year I'm setting a lower price bound of about $15.

I started with a Cloudline 2007 pinot noir hailing from Oregon that ran me roughly $15.  I don't think it's fair to review it since it was my first pinot of the season and I have to get my taste buds readjusted from drinking rieslings all spring and summer.

I will say that I didn't like the first glass at all, I almost poured it out.  However, despite the fact that I'd aerated it, I think I just needed to give it more time to open up.  The second glass was a little better.  The rest of the bottle has sat here for 2 or 3 days and I haven't gotten back to it, so it's going towards cooking; no fair commenting on how it tastes now.  The second glass wasn't bad, not my favorite red, but someone with more pinot experience would probably like it.

OK, I know, not much of a review, except to say that I've learnt I need to give these more time to breathe before I drink them.

Next up in a few days: my first petite sirah.