DeLoach Pinot Noir Review

DeLoach Pinot Noir comes from Sonoma’s Russian River Valley area in California, USA.  In this review, we’re going to cover this wine’s price, alcohol content, aroma, taste and more.

DeLoach Vineyards has been around for over three decades.  Over that period of time they’ve experimented to find what they feel is their best combination of clones, rootstock and soil.  In 2003 the vineyards underwent a major change when the Boisset family pulled up the vineyard and planted “cover crops” in order to improve the soil.

Fast forward to the present.  DeLoach now makes wine in smaller lots with a focus on producing high quality Pinot Noir.  Additionally, they practice Burgundian techniques including using open top fermentors and also utilizing sustainable winemaking practices.

DeLoach Pinot Noir Tasting

For this review, I tasted the 2013 Heritage Reserve Pinot Noir from DeLoach.

Appearance

In appearance, DeLoach Pinot Noir is light garnet in color.  Light is able to shine through the liquid fairly well, leaving cherry reflections below the glass.

The wine was very leggy with many multi-sized and fast moving tears dripping down the sides of the glass.

Aroma

The wine’s aroma is subtle and non-complex.  However, its simplicity is enjoyable, with notes of cherry as the primary aroma.  There’s also a hint of candy in there as well, but that took some time to develop.

You have to dig deep to really pull out much alcohol.  There’s not much “sting in the nose” with this wine.

DeLoach Pinot Noir alcohol content 13.5% by volume, per the bottle.

Taste

Much like the aroma, the wine’s taste was subtle and delicate.  Also non-complex but again enjoyably simple.

The first taste I noticed was a warm hint of cranberry that softened up quickly.  As that softening occurred, a more cherry-like flavor emerged.  Not black or maraschino cherry, but just a straightforward cherry note.  Perhaps Bing?  To be clear it was subtle.

The bottle label suggested I might notice some spice.  However, I did not notice that in the wine’s flavor.

I did notice that some of the flavor washed out a bit as the wine had a chance to breathe.  What was mostly left were the cranberry notes.

Mouthfeel and Tannins

The wine’s tannins were present but soft.  I noticed them only on the tongue and really had to wait for the finish to kick in before they were noticeable.

Not surprisingly, the wine’s mouthfeel was also light.  Almost like apple juice in texture, but obviously not in flavor.

Finish

Finish of DeLoach Pinot Noir was short to medium.  As mentioned above, that was when the tannins made their presence known.

Overall Opinion

Overall, I really enjoyed DeLoach Pinot Noir.  What I liked most about it was its understatement at all levels of the wine tasting experience.

That resulted in a very nice balance between the taste, texture and finish of the wine.  It was also a bit of a nice surprise to note a cranberry flavor in a Pinot Noir.  Nine times out of ten with a Pinot Noir you’re going to notice cherry, primarily.  So this was a pleasant change of pace and it wasn’t overdone.  Kudos to the winemaker!

Do watch out for the slight flavor washout over time as you’re drinking an individual glass.  It’s a great excuse to keep pouring a fresh one!

DeLoach Pinot Noir price $14.99.