Meiomi California Pinot Noir NV

The Meiomi California Pinot Noir NV is a very popular wine. In 2015, Constellation Brands purchased the Meiomi brand from Joe Wagner of the Wagner family of Caymus fame for $315,000,000. At the time, Meiomi was selling 600,000 cases of Pinot Noir per year, that is, over 7 million bottles.

From what I have read, the purchase did not include any vineyards, and Meiomi used vineyards in the Santa Barbara, Monterey, and Sonoma AVAs. Santa Barbara and Monterey are located inside the Central Coast AVA, and Sonoma is inside the North Coast AVA. According to California wine regulations, the wine bottle could have said California as the origin, but they preferred to highlight the individual AVAs.

The new Meiomi California Pinot Noir NV only references California and is now a non-vintage wine, where before it was a vintage dates Pinot Noir. Constellation Brands has control of their top-notch vineyards, and I figure the wine is now non-vintage for two reasons. They want each vintage to be reliable, so consumers always know what the wine will offer and keep up with demand. If there is a down vintage, they can still meet demand.

Changing vineyards (if they did change, they do not say why the labeling changed) and changing this Pinot from vintage to non-vintage wine are significant changes. Constellation produces excellent wine, so while expecting the changes to be made for valid reasons and may improve the wine, they do not explain the differences.

The residual sugar for the Meiomi California Pinot Noir NV is 15 g/L, and dry Red wine is 6 g/L and under, so this Pinot Noir is on the sweet side.

This Pinot Noir was aged for six months in French oak barrels. The alcohol content is 13.7%. I have not reviewed the Meiomi Pinot Noir since the 2014 vintage, so I can not compare the original Meiomi to the new Meiomi from memory. So let’s go to the tasting portion to see what, if anything, is new.

The Meiomi California Pinot Noir NV Tasting Notes

The color is garnet red, still see-thru, but with black highlights. The nose is oak spice, chocolate, spice, red berries, a hint of smoke, and dried strawberry bits. The Meiomi California Pinot Noir NV is a very silky smooth wine with softly rounded flavors.

This Pinot Noir tastes like ripe plum, milk chocolate, tart cranberry, a salty sensation, and spice. The mid-palate adds blueberry, orange zest, and black cherry. The tannins are smooth and sweet, and the acidity is well-balanced.

This Pinot Noir shoots for rounded, smooth flavors instead of complexity, and it does smooth and rounded very well.

The Summary

• The Meiomi California Pinot Noir NV is a tasty Red wine.
• It is not my style preferred style of Pinot Noir, but it works for me as a lush Red.
• If you were a fan of the old Meiomi you will like the new Meiomi.