Muirwood Pinot Nior

Ah, a red at last... and I have to admit, I'm starting to truly enjoy focusing my attention on the full experience of drinking a wine.  In the past, I'd just drink it down without paying attention.  Doing that, they were all the same... What was a tannin?  What did dry mean?  I didn't know... didn't really care... I simply drank the stuff and thought I was refined... I was a fool... and probably looked like one.  Well, the times they are a-changin. 

Speaking of enjoyment... that's the Muirwood Pinot Noir.

I cannot honestly say whether or not I've ever had a Pinot Noir... remember, I never payed attention...  I drank either 'the house red,' Cabernet or Chardonnay... in other words, 'didn't know,' red or white.
Now that I DO pay attention, I think I may be able to tell the difference between a pinot noir and a Cabernet. 

Before I get to talking about this particular Pinot Noir, let me talk a little bit about what I've learned concerning wine tasting... wine experiencing.  You often see people surrounding their nose by the glass and breathing deeply to get the aroma of the wine.  To be honest, I've noticed more nuances of aroma by doing that with an empty glass after draining it of the wine and letting it sit for several minutes.  So far, whenever I smell a wine in a glass, I smell the alcohol and nothing else.  I also find that the the initial taste of a wine doesn't really set it off from others of it's kind.   The initial mouthful of one Cabernet is... to me.. no different from any other, unless one tastes like paint thinner and the other does not.  Only after coating my mouth by drinking a glass and then waiting for saliva to work its chemical magic, do I begin to sense subtle differences in flavor, texture and character.  It is important to notice, that the common denominator in all these changes from when I noticed nothing to when I noticed something is air... or oxygen.  The wine had time to frolic with some oxygen... so I'm going to start decanting... after the next payday.

This particular Pinot Noir has a smooth texture that is slightly dry.  At first, I did not notice the "cherry and berry" flavors mentioned on the back label, and to be honest, I always thought that was B.S. because I never tasted it.  Well, after a while of my mouth being free of the wine, I actually did taste grape, then a fuller, indistinct "berriness."  That moment was an epiphany of wine enjoyment for me.  After more time, a sweetness developed like the aftertaste of candy.   I guarantee, I will rarely rush through a wine again.

I recommend this one... epiphanies for just under thirteen bucks are a good deal....  Unfortunately, the label didn't survive the extraction process... guess I need to drink another...