CheapWineFinder Podcast
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CheapWineFinder Podcast
Bacchus Ginger's Cuvée Pinot Noir-There is more to the story!
The fascinating world of wine often hides gems in plain sight. Meet the Bacchus Ginger's Cuvée Pinot Noir 2023, a $12.99 bottle that breaks the assumption that quality must come with a hefty price tag.
What makes this wine remarkable isn't just its approachable price point, but the pedigree behind it. David Gordon, who created this Monterey Pinot Noir, has served as the sommelier at Robert De Niro's Tribeca Grill since 1990. As one of America's pioneering wine experts, Gordon's connections run deep throughout the industry. He's one of only three Americans to become an honorary citizen of Château Neuf-du-Pape, and when he decided to create affordable wines, top producers like Camus and Minor Family eagerly offered grapes and technical guidance.
Named after Gordon's daughter Ginger (a sure sign of quality, as winemakers never cut corners on bottles bearing family names), this cuvée balances freshness with complexity. The wine undergoes a thoughtful fermentation process: 50% in stainless steel for bright fruit preservation and 50% in neutral oak barrels for subtle oxygenation and texture development. After 10 months in neutral barrels, the result delivers vibrant cherry notes complemented by herbs, strawberry, licorice, and hints of orange zest and mocha.
What we're tasting is the advantage of insider knowledge—Gordon's ability to source exceptional grapes through his network, identifying opportunities where high-quality vineyards might have fruit available due to contract changes. For wine lovers, this translates to experiencing grapes that might otherwise end up in bottles twice the price.
Whether you're new to Pinot Noir or a seasoned enthusiast looking for your next everyday sipper, Bacchus Ginger's Cuvée demonstrates that sometimes the best values come from those who know the wine world well enough to work outside conventions. If you spot this bottle, don't hesitate to experience what happens when decades of fine wine expertise meets value pricing. Your palate (and wallet) will thank you.
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Hey, welcome, it's Domain Dave from CheapWineFindercom. Again, like always, three times a week we write up a review of value-priced wine and three times a week we plug in the microphone and we talk about it and we've got an interesting kind of fun one today. The name of it's the. The brand is Bacchus. This is Ginger's Cuvée, pinot Noir 2023. I found it at a local wine retailer for $12.99. It's a Pinot Noir from Monterey. It has kind of an interesting story.
Speaker 1:This is a brand by David Gordon who since 1990, has been the sommelier at Tribeca Grill in New York. That's the restaurant that Robert De Niro is co-owner of and he is kind of at the forefront of sommeliers in the United States. He was doing it before it was big time. Sommeliers United States. He was doing it before it was big time. He's only the third American ever to have an honorary, be an honorary citizen of Chateau Naftupap. He is big on different groups, he knows everybody and when he decided to try to do a value-priced wine which I respect somebody who's doing all these high-end wines and he's trying to do a wine-priced wine, which I respect Somebody who's doing all these high-end wines and he's trying to do a wine that people can afford and it's really good. When he first started it he had people like Camus and Minor Family offering to give him grapes and technical advice, and he's been doing this brand for a little bit and this one's from Monterey but he still knows everybody, so when he goes to get grapes it's like a buddy of his or someone he's been acquainted to or someone he's known and said, hey, try this, this vineyard is really outstanding and they just had a contract fail. You can go in there and get some really good grapes at a really good price, and that's how this works. Now here is a wine fact for you the Ginger's Cuvée, and a cuvée is a blend. In this case it's a blend of vineyards, but if it was a Merlot with a Cabernet Franc, that could be a cuvee too, just because they blend things. But this is a blend of vineyards. Ginger is David Gordon's daughter.
Speaker 1:Anytime you see a winery name, a wine after a loved one, it is going to be the highest quality they can do. Doesn't mean you're going to like it all the time, but it's going to be high quality Because you know the reason is sometimes you just don't like wines that are really good. It's not your thing, but it's going to be. There's going to be no scrimping. There's going to be no. You know they're not cutting corners anywhere. You know they're not cutting corners anywhere. You know Ginger's daughter. It's going to be a good and it's a $12.99 wine. It probably costs more. This place has got really good prices but it's a solid Pinot Noir from California, made by someone who knows everybody and knows wine. So that's not too bad.
Speaker 1:I'm going to take a sip. It's really balanced, it's really fresh. It is fruit forward in a non-fruit forward jammy kind of way. There's some really fresh cherries on this, some herbs, something to kind of dry things up a little bit. There's some strawberry, there's some licorice, maybe a faint little bit of Dr Pepper, that kind of fruity kind of thing. Not a lot, just a little. Maybe some orange zest, a little rough edge here and there, maybe some mocha. You know it's one of those Pinot Noirs with a lot of different flavors. You know you can't always you kind of guess what you're going to get with the Pinot Noir. There are certain flavors you're almost always going to get but, depending on the vineyard or whatever, there's always going to be some surprises in there. And that's a pretty good deal.
Speaker 1:The art of wine is the blending. The fermentation is like science. This wine was fermented in 50% stainless steel and 50% neutral oak barrels. Neutral oak barrels don't give off any flavor, but a stainless steel vat does not allow air transfer and even though a barrel is watertight, it's not completely airtight and that little bit of air coming through interacts with the wine and changes the flavor. So you're going to get some little bit of differences here and there and so it blends together. You're going to get a little another flavor, a little texture, and then they put it in neutral barrels for 10 months to balance out, which is a nice little thing. Again, you're not going to get the chocolate vanilla, of course. You're not going to get it with French oak anyway, but there you go. So this is a well-made wine.
Speaker 1:He knows people. He finds vineyards that have good grapes. He has people who help him with the wine, know what they're doing. Plus, he knows what he's doing already. So this is a good value price wine. This is one to seek out. I'm not sure how well it's distributed, but if you find Bacchus, ginger's Cuvée, pinot Noir 2023, and they've got a couple other wines in there, check it out. It's well worth drinking. It's a quality Pinot Noir, it's priced right. So there you go. So, adios, this is Domain Dave cheapwinefightercom. Like us where you like your podcasts, if you will. Pushing buttons does work for some stupid reason. I don't understand it. But, adios, keep it cheap and I'll be talking to you. Bye-bye.