MIPTC #9 - Clos des Fous Subsollum Pinot Noir 2018

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by this whole new edition of the #MIPTC newsletter! It's a true delight to have you here, and the fact that there are nearly 1,300 of you subscribing to my weekly random thoughts is kind of mind-boggling. Thank you SO much.

This week, we're looking at a varietal I don't think we have touched as of yet despite it being one of the true stars of the (Western) wine world: Pinot Noir (pee-know nWHAR).

Now, I often come across folks who pride themselves on drinking only Pinot Noir. To be honest, I have a hard time getting the focus on a single varietal, and especially when it can be made in SO many styles like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon often can.

To me, the more I learn about wine, the less the varietal itself matters in my choice. Instead, regions, climates, appellations and individual wine-making styles often take precedence just because I find they have more impact on what I'll find in the glass. For instance, you would likely find the wine we have here to have less in common with, say a Santa Lucia Highlands California Pinot than with a South African Cinsault or Cru Beaujolais. Why? Because there are many ways to make Pinot Noir. After all, it really is just an ingredient in a complete product, just like strawberries can make light and airy shortcakes as well as the densest decadent mousses.

Now that we've established this, how does this one fare? Well, the first interesting thing about this one is that it is from Chile or, more precisely, the Valle de Aconcagua, a land-locked valley about an hour out of Santiago. It looks quite pretty, but not exactly the way you expect wine regions to look:

Source: Pexels

This was actually one of the first Western-style wineries to be established in the region, and you can imagine that its founders were quickly described as crazy for trying to plant Pinot Noir, a notoriously capricious and hard-to-grow varietal, in such an apparently hostile terrain. To laugh this off and double down on the idea, they decided to call themselves "Clos des Fous" which is French for Land of the Crazies.

The experiment paid off, however, and the Clos soon became a smashing success for its Burgundy-inspired Pinots. All right, enough talking, let's get tasting!

The Skinny

• From: Valle de Aconcagua, Chile.

• Varietals: Pinot Noir 100%

• Price: $25,05 CAD

• Feature: None

Tasting Notes

On the nose, things get very flowery from the get-go, which is a tell-tale sign you might be in the presence of good Pinot made in the Burgundian style. The bouquet them moves on to crunchy cherries and a bit of forest floor (old mashed leaves and earth). After a while in the glass, the cherries start to dance with some luscious and complex warm spice notes like cardamon, cinnamon and nutmeg. You can tell this will be a rather light style from the nose, but this just oozes class and refinement all the way.

On the palate, you get the same dominant crunchy cherries you met on the nose. No real alcoholic bite to report, which is sadly often a bad surprise with budget Pinots. Considering the fresh style, this is more built around acidity than tannins, so the latter are small and tight without being too noticeable, like a good backbone structure would. Acidity is present without being too angular or sharp, and gives way to the fruit and freshness in a very pleasant way overall. The finish is shortish and the wine is not madly complex, but what is there is quite gorgeously done, really.

Cutting To The Chase: Does It Please The Cork?

I often said to Pinot lovers who came to me for budget options that sub-30$ Pinots were often very disappointing, and that it was truly slim pickings in this price range. Well, I'm happy to report that this 25$ bottle is now part of this very select club!

This is good Pinot, and not just for the price. This is good. In Burgundy, you normally don't get to a similar style of this quality unless you spend 40-50$, so this is a real dollar-for-dollar in what feels like a very French-inspired wine. The only thing I would say is that I wish I would taste more of Chile in this one and what makes the place unique and special. I can't say I got a whole lot of terroir from this one, but what I got is incredible value in a wine style that often feels out of reach to many. Let us all be grateful for the crazies who jumped into this unlikely project!

Cork Score: 3.5/5* (adding an extra .5 for pure value!)

***

*Here's the lowdown on the scores, by the way. Essentially, I don't believe in 100-point scales for things as subjective as wine. Simply put, I just don't think one can credibly justify a 1% or even a 10% increment between two wines. I therefore choose to go a bit more basic. Here's how I break it down:

• 1/5: Seriously faulty, terrible, undrinkable;

• 2/5: Flawed and/or of bad quality. This is the type of stuff you should probably cook with and not drink;

• 3/5: Decent. This is where most entries will end up. These wines are clean and well-balanced, but not particularly memorable and/or exceptional. They are recommendable, but not an experience per se;

• 4/5: Exceptional. I sadly drink few wines that get this rating, but my purpose is to drink more. This denotes a memorable bottle that brought up some kind of emotion in me. This left a mark, and odds are I am now busy recommending it to everybody I know;

• 5/5: Perfect. I think I have probably tasted less than 5 bottles that would have qualified for a 5/5 in my entire life. This denotes an absolutely incredible wine that will imprint a definite memory for years to come - a true experience in itself.