New Pinot Noir by the GlassMinistry of the Vinterior 2010

For the last few years, we have been blessed to offer an outstanding Pinot Noir by the glass. Our Meiomi Pinot Noir has been as popular as any wine we have ever had on our glass list. The wine's popularity has grown so much, that you can now find it in places like Dominick's. Soon, I'm sure the wine will start to find more and more retail stores.

We feel that we were able to be a part of the wine's best vintages and that we were able to garner several great years out of this Pinot Noir. But like most great things, the run has come to an end. (Because this wine has been so popular, however, we will keep a case of this Pinot Noir in stock until demand says otherwise.)

The new Pinot Noir by the glass - which has very tough shoes to fill - is the Ministry of the Vinterior Pinot Noir, 2010. As far as quality goes, we could not be any happier with our new selection. We feel it replaces the Meiomi admirably and may even have many similar qualities. So to give a little information about The Ministry, we want to share some notes about the winery, direct from the source:

The Ministry of the Vinterior grapes have been planted in the Russian River Valley, the southernmost region in the Northern Sonoma AVA, since the early 1800s, making it one of the United States’ oldest wine-growing regions. Possessing several microclimates that centuries of farming have allowed to be analyzed and fully understood, the area produces many noted varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel and Chardonnay.

If you are not sold on trying a new Pinot Noir, what you need to understand is that most Pinot Noir aficionados agree that the best California Pinot Noir comes from the Russian River Valley (where The Ministry is from) where early morning fog, warm days, an afternoon breeze from the sea and cool nights combine to make for some very happy Pinot Noir grapes. The higher alcohol content speaks to the warmer microclimate of the vineyards.

"It has been written that a plague of locusts is about the only challenge that Northern California growers and winemakers didn't face in 2010. The growing season delivered one headache after another beginning with record-breaking low temperatures that led to late bud break, followed by twice the historic average rainfall in May. After pleasant weather in June, the summer turned cool with heavy fog almost every day followed by warm, sunny afternoons. A record breaking blast of heat in August resulted in damage to the tender fruit. While yields were down as a result of the challenging season, the harvested fruit was perfectly ripe and the resulting wine will certainly please pinot-heads.

The Ministry of the Vinterior has spared no expense or effort in farming what it feels is a paradigm of this variety. But individual taste is subjective, and the general population will decide the flavors and qualities it finds in the wine."

We hope that our population enjoys the quality of this new Pinot Noir find. We think, in a matter of a few months, our Pinot Noir loyalists may be saying, "Meiomi who?!"