Wine Lovers' Page: Wild Horse 1996 Central Coast Pinot Noir

Today's Wine Tasting Note

Wild Horse 1996 Central Coast (California) Pinot Noir ($17.99)
Clear ruby color. Ripe wild-cherry aroma, oddly reminiscent of an old-fashioned soda-fountain cherry Coke. Fresh, juicy fruit flavor, full and fresh; a fleeting impression of sweetness quickly dries out in the face of lemon-squirt acidity. Seems rather simple at first but evolves in the glass, as Pinots do, into more layered complexity. A fine wine and a fair value, it offers a good demonstration of the style of Central Coast Pinot: There's nothing Burgundian about it, but why should there be? (April 12, 1998)

FOOD MATCH: Easter ham with roast potatoes and fresh asparagus. Central Coast Pinot is an exceptional match with ham, I think, because its exuberant fruitiness enhances the meat just as cherries, pineapple and prunes go with ham.

PRICE WATCH: Up $3 in 12 months; the previous vintage was $14.99 at the same retailer.

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All my wine-tasting reports are consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest, I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores.

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