07 Fritz Russian River Valley Pinot

I have always believed that the Pinots that come out of the RRV are extremely fruit forward and not as " earthy" as those from other regions. I'm not saying that this is a negative in any way. I go 50/50 back and forth between the style of Pinots that I like to drink. This 07 Fritz is an outstanding wine that any pinot lover will enjoy. The nose is filled with cranberries and Shasta blackberry-vanilla soda. Upon the first swirl of the glass I got excited and could not wait to try the first sip. I was not disappointed what so ever. Ripe black cherries, cola and Christmas spices came to life. The tannins were present and pleasant and perfect after 11 months in oak....This bottle averages $30 dollars, but I got mine at Green's in Columbia, SC for a nice sale price of $18. I like this wine at $30, but love it at $18. Pick up a bottle or two and serve over the holidays to impress your guests.

I rate this wine 8.75 BigBecks out of 10.

2008 Morande Casablanca Valley Pinot Noir-Chile

I tend not to bash wines on this site, but this wine should be avoided at all cost. I'm always searching for an inexpensive Pinot so I purchased this one to try. The aromas of this wine were somewhat exciting with bright bing cherries and a hint of fresh crushed strawberries, but the flavor did not match my excitement. The flavors were all wrong. It had almost a fizzy texture along with a fake flavor of a jolly rancher that had been sitting unwrapped

in last year's Halloween bag...Not worth the $12 that I wasted on this train wreck. Really not worth $5...in my opinion...

I rate this wine 4 BigBecks out of ten.