09 Dahlia Pinot Noir Reserve - 93 PTS and delish

I'm not afraid to admit it. And I can say it out loud. I like this Pinot. I know, I know.....

You've heard me moan and groan about my issues with Pinot and my sensitive palate. You've put up with all my whining about how I think they all smell and taste like stinky old barn. Not that I have actually tasted a barn, or hay, or dirty goats. But the smell is so strong for me that I can't get past it.

So when Don poured me a glass of wine on Saturday and had a devilish smirk on his face I knew he was up to no good. He was going to try and trick me into something. But I'm smarter than that, because I spotted the BevMo purchase he made and noticed he bought a few bottles of Dahlia Pinot Reserve. Apparently he has forgotten that my friend Rob Jensen, of Testarossa fame, makes this Pinot and it is one of the few pinots I actually like! Because it tastes like fruit. Imagine that!

Don bought it because Wilfred gave it a whopping 93 pts. And it was on sale. That's like winning the lottery in my house. We thoroughly enjoyed the first bottle. Then the second. Oops. It was Saturday. So settle down.

I remembered tasting this wine a while ago when we were doing a photo shoot at Testarossa. It was the summer of 2009........ just kidding. Well not really. It was! We took a break from the photo shoot and had lunch with Rob and Wilfred and the crew on the patio outside. Rob brought out a few wine samples for all of us to try. Technically they were for Wilfred to try, but the rest of us couldn't resist getting a little sip.

And now here they are bottled and on sale at BevMo for $19.99 (in California, anyway.) Plus, I just remembered, BevMo has a coupon out there that you can use to purchase this wine. You can save $1 on each bottle. The easiest thing to do is to order online and use this code at checkout: VPMM13

Sorry, I got side tracked. I'm always looking for a way to save a buck. Or two.

I highly recommend a trip to the winery if you happen to be in Los Gatos. You will love all the Testarossa wines. They consistently score above 90pts. Rob and Bill know how to make good wine.

And if you're into history you'll find the physical place quite interesting. It's the fourth oldest continuously operating winery in California. It dates back to 1888. The building has quite a history. See? Now you want to go, right? You can get directions here. Call me. I'll meet you there.

Check out the beautiful old stone entrance to the winery tasting room.

It's a great place to take pictures too. Here are some shots that my buddy Wilfred took that day. There's a lot of down time at a photo shoot. So of course we took a bunch of pictures - of each other - to kill time.

Me

Rob Jensen, Owner

Bill Brosseau, Winemaker

Wilfred Wong, BevMo! Cellarmaster (photo by me!)

And me again. This is how I am in real life. Totally annoying.

After wine tasting you can skip into town and have lunch. There is a tasty little lunch spot down the hill from the winery called The Purple Onion Cafe. Yum. Yum. Yum.

You might also like this past article on Testarossa: Pinot Noir and my Sensitive Palate

And, I would be happy to blah, blah, blog about anyone else's pinot. Just send me a bottle and I'm all yours. Yes, it's that easy.

Disclaimer: all products and opinions are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this post. The end.