Uncorking Aldi's Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

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Ever wondered if a $12.99 bottle could deliver the experience of a premium regional wine? Our latest deep dive proves that exceptional wine doesn't always come with an exceptional price tag.

The Willamette Valley has earned its reputation as one of the world's finest Pinot Noir regions, with bottles typically starting at $25 and quickly climbing past $40. That's what makes Aldi's Specially Selected Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2024 such a fascinating discovery. At just $12.99, this wine challenges everything we assume about price and quality in the wine world.

Bottled by Precept Wine (the largest independently owned wine company in the Northwest), this Pinot showcases the classic transparency and garnet hue that aficionados look for. But it's the complexity that truly surprises - dried leaves, herbal notes, pencil shavings, black cherry, and cranberry create that quintessential Pinot Noir profile that makes you pause between sips. The mouthfeel balances smoothness with just enough spicy edge to keep things interesting. As one well-regarded online review site noted with its 94-point score: "Buy it, that's all there is to it."

The current wine industry downturn (with sales down roughly 10%) has created a silver lining for consumers. Excess inventory and production means premium wines are finding their way to market under store labels at fraction of typical costs. For Pinot lovers or anyone curious about what makes Willamette Valley special, this bottle offers an authentic experience without the premium price tag. It's not "dumbed down" for mass appeal - it's a genuine example of what makes Oregon Pinot Noir special. Try it with your next meal or simply on its own, and discover what happens when great wine regions meet great value. Have you found any exceptional wine bargains lately? We'd love to hear about your discoveries!

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
Welcome, it's uh Domain Dave, cheapwinefinder.com
again.
We've got a uh value priced wineagain today, this time from
Aldi.
This is from their speciallyselected series of wines, which
are um they they they havevalue-priced wines, but from
some of the best growing regionsin the world.

(00:23):
Um it's all over the world.
You know, uh in Europe they haveuh Rioja and you know the
Bordeaux and they have NapaValley and all that type of
thing, and but at good prices.
And today we have the Aldispecially selected Willamette
Valley Pinot Noir 2024.
Willamette Valley for Pinot Noiris one of the premier uh

(00:46):
locations for um for Pinot Noirwines.
It's it's up there very high, itcan compete with uh the best in
the world.
This is a$12.99 wine, andtypically Willamette Valley
wines run from like 25 to 40,and then from 40 on up.
And and that's for estate wines,you know, from name brand

(01:10):
wineries, that type of thing.
But the only time you find$12.99wines is when you're dealing
with store brands and customcrush wines, and this is a
custom crush wine.
Precept wine is the largestindependently owned uh wine
company in the Northwest, andthey own one of the companies
that at least bottled this wine,but if they bottled it, they

(01:32):
probably had something more todo, or at least another division
of something did something withthat.
And this is a well, it's thegrapes are from Willamette
Valley, Oregon.
And but we don't really know toomuch more than that.
Um, there aren't really any badvineyards in Willamette Valley.

(01:53):
I mean, it commercial vineyardseverywhere are professionally
grown vineyards and uh andprecept who had something to do
with this wine, but they makeexcellent wines.
They're they're professional andactually good.
They're really good.
So, and is this a wine that youknow the wine business is down

(02:14):
like 10%?
Did somebody have extra grapesand sold them off?
I don't know.
They had extra uh extra wine.
They had finished the wine andthey've they canceled the they
canceled a label and they boughtit off.
And is because this was only itwas only bottled.
Was that kind of what goes onhere?
I don't know.
We don't know.

(02:35):
Um, which is some of the coolthings that's happening right
now.
When the wine industry is introuble, wine drinkers can find
bargains.
Um our look my local big boxwine shop has a outstanding sale
on one wine.
Uh they'll have like a$20 winefor$10 or a$15 wine for$5 every
week just to get you in thedoor.

(02:55):
And uh I don't know if it'sworking because usually when I
get there, I figure they're soldout, and there never are.
I think I'm the only one buyingwine at half price, but you
should be too.
So let's see what this uhspecially selected Willamette
Valley Pinot Noir 24 is allabout.
In a local, not a local, but aone of the uh better in uh

(03:15):
online wine review sites gave it94 points and said buy it,
that's all there is to it.
And I kind of agree with that.
It is uh see-through.
You can almost read uh you canread your text through this on
uh in the morning or youremails.
Um it's garnet red, it's gotthat nice nose that Pinot Noir

(03:36):
has, kind of funky, it's got alike dried crushed leaves, it's
kind of got herbs, you know,weird things like pencil,
pencil, like lead pencilshavings and that type of thing,
along with black cherry and youknow, and maybe cranberry and
those kind of things.
So it's it's always this reallykind of odd mix of wonderful and

(03:59):
what the heck was that?
It is smooth, but it's got somerough edge in the spices.
It's got a multitude of flavors.
You sit there and just sip it,you know, take a minute before

(04:19):
you just start talking anddrinking just to figure out
what's going on.
Take a couple of sips, swish itaround your mouth a little bit,
and it will give you somethingto think about.
I mean, at$12.99 you justnormally want a good tasting
wine that you don't have tothink too much about.
And not that this is acontemplate your navel wine,
it's it's not, but it is worthsome attention.

(04:41):
I'm gonna take another sip.
Yeah, it's a tasty wine.
I mean, in my in my opinion, ifyou're a Pinot Noir, if you like
Pinot Noir, or even if you justwant to try it out with Lamette
Valley Pinot Noir, this is amust-buy.

(05:03):
If you see it in Aldi, it's$12.99.
Give it a try.
I mean, um, I don't know whereyou are when it comes to Pinot
Noir.
I mean, everybody's different.
Um, this is one of my favorites.
This in Santa Barbara, um, whichis 100 miles north of Los
Angeles.
It's my second favorite placefor Pinot Noir.
I think I got one of thosecoming up, too.

(05:23):
Um, but you know, it I like it,and I'm sure there's other
people out there who do like it,and there's other people who
just want to know whatWillamette Valley is all about.
And this for$12.99 is a goodexample.
This is not a dumbed-down wineby any stretch of the
imagination.
It has what you want from a goodPinot Noir.
It's got good uh mouthfeel, it'sgot good flavor, it's got a

(05:46):
little bit of depth, it's got alittle bit of complexity.
You know, it's tennis$12.99.
I'm gonna take another sip andwe'll go um I think the I think
my concerto here is slowing up.
And let them let them take abreak.

(06:07):
So there you go, it's uh Aldi'sspecially selected Lamet Valley
Pinot Noir 2024.
It's a good wine, it's worthdrinking, it tastes great, it's
got a lot of flavor.
Um, and it's and it's awell-made wine.
It's not just a cheap wine, it'suh it's a wet very well-made
wine.
So there you go.
Like us where you like yourpodcast, if you will.

(06:27):
It does help.
Um, for some reason, I don'tknow why in this day and age
where they can track people, uh,they need someone to push a
button for something.
It doesn't make any sense to me.
You know, you every time someonearrives a bank, they got 14
videos of them doing it like sixmiles away.
So there you go, adios, keep itcheap, and I'll I've got um uh
I've got a Napa ValleyChardonnay for cheap, and I've

(06:49):
got a uh Santa Barbara PinotNoir for cheap coming up, and
we'll be talking about thatbecause good cheap wine is why
we're here.
So adios, keep it cheap, andI'll be talking, everybody.