La Rochelle, Sonoma Coast (Sonoma County, California) Pinot Meunier 2009

 You won’t often see Pinot Meunier as a stand-alone wine, for it is most often used as a blending component in sparkling wines. It’s not as flamboyant as Pinot Noir, its kissing cousin, but in the hands of a skilled winemaker such as Tom Stutz, it can be very inviting. Stutz no doubt worked with Pinot Meunier when he made sparkling wines at Mirassou a number of years ago, and in this bottling from the Four Sisters Vineyard from the Sonoma Coast, he’s crafted an expressive wine that offers deep notes of black cherry, strawberry, black tea and spice, with firm acidity and a welcome bit of grip on the finish, a nuance that is absent from so many California reds.