Manikay Pinot Noir Australia Mclaren Vale 2013

Ah.....Australia wine, that sounds like a winner. I have only tried California red wine and Italian red wine and it just seemed kind of interesting to veer into the Australia wine section.

The first thing I needed to know was what in the heck does Pinot Noir mean? Yes, I am showcasing my ignorance here...but I found out it is a type of grape grown all over the world in cooler environments.  Wikipedia....a site I was never allowed to use in graduate school...lol, states that this grape is challenging to cultivate and is considered the grapes of some of the finest wines.  Hmmm...well good, I am glad I bought this on a whim. I think I paid around $13 dollars for this wine.



What caught my attention with this wine was the bottle. I must admit I am a sucker for packaging. This bottle of wine looked sleek, thin and unusual, so it jumped out at me .

It had a twist off cap which is my cup of tea....yeah baby. I am not a fan of corks, too much work (even though I have an electronic one that my mom bought me for Christmas a few years back...I use a cork taker- off-er that I keep in a drawer for misfit utensils.).

This wine was a bit more hefty tasting to me. It was not sweet...but it was not dry either. If I had to rate the sweetness on a scale of 1 to 10 it would rate dead center at 5.

I liked this wine quite a bit. I found myself looking forward to my nightly 6 ounces of this stuff and was sad when it was gone.

I suppose that this wine tasted like pinot grapes...not like cherries, black berries, or blueberries...just this type of grape I guess. I am definitely interested in trying other pinot noir wines just to see if the pinot grape taste is similar.

The alcohol content of this wine was 13.5%...pretty up there for me. I could definitely feel the alcohol content as it made it's way down my esophagus. I liked it. I felt this wine was bold...not rich, just bold in a medium way.

I would rate this wine 4/5 and would def buy it again at this price or lower.