First Look: Elouan Oregon Pinot Noir

Amidst the excitement of Meiomi's latest 92 point Wine Spectator rating I was sleuthing around their website and noticed some interesting developments.

First, Meiomi is now a distinct brand, separate from Belle Glos. Historically Belle Glos was the single vineyard Pinot Noir in the Wagner Family's portfolio. Meiomi was the appellation bottling within the Belle Glos brand.

But now, Meiomi is the flagship brand for a new family of wines called Copper Cane Wines & Provisions. Belle Glos remains a Wagner family brand. The Provisions in Copper Cane is swimwear and cigars.

Second, Meiomi has release a Chardonnay. I'm not a big Chardonnay guy so I didn't write about it when I tasted it recently, but it's "very good" for my taste. Wine Spectator liked it quite a bit: 90 points the first vintage of Meiomi Chardonnay they've rated. At $22 retail it's a good buy.

Third, Elouan is a new wine in the Copper Cane portfolio. It's kind of like the Meiomi of Oregon Pinot Noir. Sourced from a diverse set of vineyards it promises to deliver rich and complex wines. Elouan means "good light".

2013 Elouan Oregon Pinot Noir
$25 Retail
13.7% Alcohol
38,000 Cases Produced

The bottle shape and enclosure is identical to Meiomi and you know what? It tastes and smells strikingly similar too. Visually, the wine is "pushing it" in terms of how dark an Oregon Pinot should be, but it does present appealing radiance. On the nose and in the mouth-feel is where this is most similar to Meiomi. Hints of plum and cherry tobacco atop more typical Pinot Noir notes. The smooth yet vibrant texture is strikingly similar to Meiomi. Overall, very similar to Meiomi with a little less fruit.

88/100 WWP: Very Good

2013 Elouan Oregon Pinot Noir on Wine.com

Bottom Line

Given that this costs a bit more than Meiomi (and with much lower production levels, so expect street prices to be higher) I don't see myself buying as much of this as I might otherwise. It's a nice bottle of Pinot Noir for under $20, but Oregon Pinot purists maybe not (probably won't) like it. I'll be watching for this over the course of the next few vintages to see whether it develops its own personality.


I'll look to write more about Copper Cane and other new brands in their portfolio in an upcoming post.

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Like Meiomi? Have you had these wines from Copper Cane?

While researching the latest happenings at Meiomi I came across an interesting development. It appears that the guy behind Meiomi - Joseph Wagner of the Wagner Family of Wines responsible for Caymus and other brands - has launched his own mini empire.

I met Joe back in 2012 at a paired dinner at the Boston Wine Festival (event report). He was representing the Wagner family's wines in a retrospective tasting of Caymus Special Selection as well as thier other brands (Mer Soleil, Conundrum, and Meiomi). Great guy. And that family knowns wine branding.

It seems like Joe has branched off on his own with a line of wines in the vein of Meiomi - fruit forward blends of vineyards from a desirable region that comes together in a consistently satisfying relatively affordable package that presents a delicious value.

We know Meiomi - the template wine for this brand. $19.99.

Then there's Carne Humana - a Napa Valley red blend.$29.99.

After that  there's Elouan - an Oregon Pinot Noir analagous to Meiomi. $22.99.

Finally, there's Beran - a California Zinfandel. $19.99.

I thought to myself "how on earth am I going to track these wines down?". Turns out Wine.com carries them all (in Massachusetts anyway). The links above are affiliate links which means I get a commission if you click through and buy the wines from Wine.com. Thanks in advance if you use them.

If you follow the instructions in this post you can get these wines for $30 off $100 with free shipping. Quite a deal.

So far I've ordered the Elouan and I'll look forward to tasting that and sharing my thoughts. After that I'll give the Carne Humana and Beran a whirl.

Question of the Day: Have you tasted any of these wines? If so, what did you think? If not, how does the notion of the Meiomi model strike you?

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8 Recommendations: Free Shipping on $199+ at WineZetta with code WWPMEMORIAL

WWP adveriser WineZetta is offering free shiping on $199+ orders with coupon code WWPMEMORIAL. I had a look through their current inventory and spotted 8 wines I think are good plays...

First off, 2012 Oregon Pinot Noir is a great vintage, and they've got strong QPR wines in this category:

Ponzi Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Tavola 2012 91WS - $25.95 - WS Top 100

Elk Cove Pinot Noir 2012  90WS - $25.95

Here are 4 luscious reds. A 93 point California Pinot Noir. An ever-enjoyable Orin Swift Locations red. I had the Michael David Petit Petite at a work function recently and it was a total crowd pleaser. I tasted the Bedrock Shebang at a local wine shop tasting where Morgan Twain-Peterson came out to describe his passion for old California vines.

VML Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Limited Release 2012
Orin-Swift Locations E-3 Spanish Red Wine
Michal David Petit Petite
Bedrock Shebang

Spain continues to be a region that delivers value for me.
Here are a couple picks:

Bodegas El Nido Clio 2012 $39.95
La Rioja Alta Rioja Vina Ardanza Reserva 2005 92WS - $34.95 - WS Top 100

Code WWPMEMORIAL ends Monday 5/25/2015.

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Meiomi Mania

I've been writing a lot lately about the 2013 Belle Glos Meiomi that garnered a 92 point Wine Spectator rating. At a retail price of $22, the QPR metrics are attractive. Thanks to its massive 300,000+ case production level this wine is highly available. And highly subject to retailer discounting.

The perfect storm for deal hounds!

Last week I mentioned a MA-only deal for $15.95/btl. Then I described how to get this wine for less than $14/bottle fully loaded from Wine.com. The Wine.com deal was a little involved with portals and what-not. I know from personal experience that many of you aren't interested in such complicated deals.

So I was pleased to hear from a local retailer who volunteered to step up and make it easy to get this wine at a great price.

Drop me an email if you'd like to hear about a Boston-area retailer offering this wine for $14.40 a bottle when purchases 12+ bottles.

You know a wine is buzz-worthy when even the great Garagiste (who's that?) completely abandons his wheelhouse to offer a California fruit-bomb like Meiomi. He said he's never tasted it yet received 100+ emails asking about it. He offered it at a great price, but shipping costs and/or sales tax make Garagiste pricing worse than what I've mentioned here. Why people would email Garagiste about Meiomi we'll never know...

I've cracked 2 bottles of this in the past week and it's been spot-on exactly what I'm looking for in an affordable weeknight California Pinot Noir. I've got a feeling the 6 bottles I bought last week are going to go quickly and it would be nice to have 12+ bottles of this on hand at these attractive price points.

Drop me an email or ping me on Twitter @RobertDwyer with questions or comments...

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How to get Meiomi for less than $14 per bottle

I wrote earlier this week about a local [MA only] deal where you could get the 2013 Belle Glos Meiomi Pinot Noir for $15.95/btl. That's a great deal for a reliably delicious California Pinot Noir that Wine Spectator rated 92 points. I bought 6 bottles, cracked one open tonight and thought it was spot on.

But today I'll share how you can get this for less than $15 a bottle which is almost unheard of for a wine of this quality, and you don't necessarily have to live in Massachusetts.

First off, if you're not familiar with Meiomi, it's the entry level Pinot Noir from the Wagner Family. This is the same family behind the famous Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon that's probably the most reliably 90+ point rated Napa Cab of the past couple decades. The Wagner family is known for crafting wines of high quality that drink well on release with plush opoulence.

See: Wagner Family of Wines at the Boston Wine Festival

A few weeks ago I wrote how you could get $30 off $100 from Wine.com with code AMEXSPRING. For a while there, a bonanza presented itself because the code was triggered $30 off on orders of any size. That enabled a lot of free wine orders until Wine.com plugged the gap. Now orders must strictly be $100.00+ for the code to work.

Here's how I'd use that code to get Meiomi for even less than $15 a bottle...

1. Shop through a portal to get 5+% off your order
   Shopping portals a great way to stack savings on top of savings.
   Consult Cashback Monitor for the latest/best deals on portals that appeal to you:
   http://www.cashbackmonitor.com/Cashback-Store/Wine.com/
2. Optimize your order to equal just over $100
   Wine.com's prices and availabilty vary by state.
   Here in MA, Meiomi is $19.99. So I'd add 4 bottles of Meiomi.
   Plus one wine for just over $20 to make the total just over $100.
   Use the Advanced Search function to find wines $20-$25.
   Then sort on price, low to high to find a bottle just over $20.
3. Sign up for a StewardShip trial
   This will give you free shipping on your order.
   Be sure to cancel it once your first order has arrived.
   Here's how.
4. You can do this multiple times
   Here's a post that describes some of the finer details on how to do this again and again.

So let's add up the per bottle costs:

In MA, Meiomi is $19.99 a bottle. It would actually be nice if it were $20 a bottle, because then we could get 5 bottles for exactly $100 and be done with it. But as it is, if you order 5 bottles you fall just short of $100 (to trigger the $30 off) and if you order 6 you've got too much overshoot.

So get 4 bottles of Meiomi at $19.99 and then throw in, say, a $22 bottle.

Then our total is $102 for 6 bottles of ~$20 wine. With $30 off $100 that takes us down to $72 for 5 bottles. With no sales tax (in MA anyway) and free shipping that's $72 for 5 bottles. That's $14.40 a bottle. And that doesn't include the 5+% cashback you got through a portal which could take this down $13.68 a bottle.

My goodness, what a deal. This of course can be applied to any order of $100 or more. The key is knowing which wines are favorably priced vs. retail. Some wines they carry are quite price inflated. But Meiomi isn't. I opened a bottle tonight and it is fantastic. Highly recommended.

Questions or comments?

Ping me on Twitter @RobertDwyer or drop me an email: wellesleywinepress@gmail.com

PS While I was poking around Meiomi's website I spotted a new collection of brands called Copper & Cane. It includes Meiomi plus an Oregon Pinot Noir called Elouan, a Napa red called Carne Humana, and a Zinfandel called Beran. I'd love to taste Joe Wagner's take on Oregon Pinot Noir. I'll have to look into this.

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Quick Deal: 92 WS 2013 Meiomi Pinot Noir for $15.95 Fully Loaded [MA Only]

Key Link: 2013 Belle Glos Meiomi for $15.95

Boston-area wine retailer VinoDivino is offering the 2013 Belle Glos Meiomi for $15.95 if you buy 6+ bottles. Wine Spectator recently rated this vintage 92 points.

92 Point Wine Spectator rating

It's very hard to find a 90 point rated California Pinot Noir for $20, and since each point north of 90 is incrementally harder for a wine to achieve, this wine presents a compelling quality-to-price ratio.

Here are my thoughts on the wine when it was released. I rated it 91 points and thought it was outstanding.

With a retail price of $22, I'm happy to get this wine for $20 or less. I've seen it around for $16.99 or $17.99. But never this low. $15.95 with no sales tax on wine in Massachusetts? That's a great deal.

The WWP QPR Calculator (what's that?) rates this deal Very Good.

How to Order

1. Click this link
2. Add 6 or more bottles to your cart
3. It should ring up for $15.95/bottle
4. Select your shipping option. In-store pick-up is free, it's only $1.95 flat rate for local delivery if you're near there stores. And $9.95 for FedEx Ground.

Pricing is valid this week or until they run out.

Bottom Line

This is a great deal. I can't imagine 6 bottles of this going to waste. I'm in for 6, especially with $1.95 same day shipping. It's such a delicious, accessible wine that reliably hits the spot.

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