This bottle has one of those fat bottles that is hard to fit in my wine cooler, minor complaint. It often happens with Shiraz for some reason but not too much with Pinot Noir. It’s a nice looking bottle though. It has a sweet aroma, perhaps of black cherry, very nice. The mouth feel is a bit thin, something I often find with low priced Pinot Noir. Otherwise it’s berries and tannins. More tannins than I expected. It’s not a well-balanced wine and not a great example of Pinot Noir but I find it generally enjoyable anyway. Maybe I’m drinking too many low end wines these days…

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t expect much from a bargain basement Pinot Noir but I always try them anyway. It’s like buying a lottery ticket. You know it won’t work out but you want to give it a try anyway. It smells decent, with ripe fruit and earthy scents. The flavor is another story though (sigh). The jagged fruit flavors are paired with a little too much oak and off flavors that linger on the long-ish finish. You also couldn’t pick it out of a line up as being a Pinot Noir. It tastes more like a bad Merlot or Cab than a bad Pinot Noir, which it most certainly is.

Very elegant label on this one, you could serve this to your fanciest friends. Unless you’re embarrassed about the screw cap that is. Light garnet in color, turning transparent near the edges of the glass indicating its youth. The aroma is strawberries and raspberries and it’s slightly sweet when it first hits your tongue. Then you get a jolt of fruit and smooth tannins, then straight into the relatively long finish. Not that complex or interesting but it is a likable Pinot.

Check out Wine.com’s Most Popular Wines Under $20.

I believe this is the last of the wines I bought at Home Goods and I think it’s the best of the bunch. The discount wasn’t huge, down from an original price of $14.99, but that’s at Home Goods. The color is deep and purplish for a Pinot Noir. Smells of dark berries and spice, not typical Pinot Noir territory. The flavor is smooth and balanced throughout, never surprising nor a letdown. This is actually quite cheap for a Pinot, so if you see it I’d recommend buying a bottle.

Check out Wine.com’s Most Popular Wines Under $20.

I don’t know where I got this wine but there’s no price tag on it (I usually leave them on to keep track of the cost for reviews) so it was probably a gift from someone. It has a nice garnet color and smells of cherry and spice. The flavor is very smooth with plenty of fruit and a spicy kick on the medium finish. A very likable Pinot, I hope I get this one as a gift again sometime.

Check out Wine.com’s Most Popular Wines Under $20.

Another wine from the Home Goods bargain bin, this bottle has a fat bottom and an image of a big, red magnet on the front with no text. Pretty cool looking bottle. It’s marked down from $17.99, which is a reasonable price for a Pinot so I’m hoping for a decent level of quality here. The color is darker and more cloudy than I’d expect of a Pinot Noir. It has a nice aroma though. The flavor is dry and stout for this type of wine, with a spicy zing on the finish. I like the wine well enough, though I wouldn’t have been able to peg it as a Pinot Noir in a blind tasting.

Check out Wine.com’s Most Popular Wines Under $20.

Smells nice, like fruit and fresh cut hay. Very fruit forward flavor as well, with a tangy bite that I think is quite enjoyable. On certain sips I detect an off flavor but for a $6 Pinot, I’m not complaining.

Check out Wine.com’s Most Popular Wines Under $20.

A bottle of Pinot Noir for five bucks and change?? I’m not expecting a ton here even though the Cab from the same label was good. The color is right, thin red with that clear ring around the edge that indicates a wine in its adolescence. The aroma has raspberry with some herbal scents and a bit of salted meat. The flavor starts with a bit of fruit that quickly turns into a spicy-sour flavor that lingers on the finish. Not well-balanced or incredibly interesting, but for the ridiculous price it’s definitely worth a try.

Check out Wine.com’s Most Popular Wines Under $20.

The first thing I noticed about this wine aside from the weird name was the cork. It was a fake cork, which I hate, but it had a gimmick on it. The cork had “whooh” printed all the way around it, with one occurence of “cough.” Get it? A little cheesy, a little funny. The wine itself has a characteristic thin red color and a subtly sweet aroma. The flavor is of ripe fruit and it has some herbal notes. The finish is about medium. It’s a decent but not exceptional Pinot Noir.

Check out Wine.com’s Most Popular Wines Under $20.

This wine is best described as fruit forward. It smells richly fruity and that same flavor hits you square when you taste it. It’s a zesty, refreshing little Pinot but it has some sort of flavor on the finish that doesn’t fit. It’s not bad, just out of place. It’s a decent wine for the price.

Check out Wine.com’s Most Popular Wines Under $20.