The 2021 Dante California Pinot Noir opens with raspberry, yellow plum, and a hint of dried cranberry. In the mouth, the wine is juicy with generous flavors of red and yellow plum, rose petals, and cardamom, with French vanilla bean lingering on the lengthy finish.
Enjoy this easy-drinking Pinot Noir with pan-seared sea scallops served with garlic-tossed linguine and simply sautéed broccolini.
The pleasure of good wine is not just about balanced flavors, a fragrant nose, or lush colors. It’s also about the moment when that first sip is taken, with family or friends, over favorite foods or during special occasions.
Michael Pozzan creates wines for moments like those, wines that capture the best of the varietals he blends, vintage after vintage. His long-time experience with growers from premier Napa and Sonoma allows him to seek out and hand-select exceptional fruit each growing season in addition to his own Calistoga vineyard. These are wines of high quality and exceptional value — wines you’ll want to share with those you love, and with those who love wine. Michael Pozzan Winery currently produces 100,000 cases per year and distributes wine under several labels sold throughout the United States.
Michael’s wine heritage runs deep, from his great-grandfather’s vineyards in Piedmont Italy to his family plantings in Sonoma County. With a passion for winemaking, Michael embarked on his journey to produce fine wines in 1991. With over 30 years in the industry, Michael is now joined by his two sons Dante and Matthew, as they continue to grow driven by strong relationships and a commitment to producing personality-rich wines.
Our commitment to crafting exceptional wines spans generations, tracing back to Italy in the late 1800’s. Today Michael Pozzan Winery proudly produces wines that capture the essence of the varietals and the character of the vintage. With our own vineyard estate and connections to Napa and Sonoma growers, we ensure the highest quality and exceptional value in every bottle.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Thanks to Alice and @WineDavid49 for choosing me to be a Lab Rat for the first time! This is also the first time I’ve attempted to make any sort of tasting notes aside from “It’s good!” or “meh”. I actually had to crack open a couple of dusty old wine books I’ve had nearly 20 years for a refresher on the lingo and methodology for proper tasting. This was definitely a learning experience for me…
PnP – Deep garnet color with no sediment. Initially, I was only able to detect alcohol on the nose. Palate was very astringent and grapefruity. It definitely needs some time to breathe. 15+ Minutes later, the harshness toned down revealing notes of vanilla and mellon with a light quick finish. 45 minutes after second pour – red berry on the nose. Vanilla and alcohol on the palate, somewhat jammy. Less harsh and more mellowed out than the initial pour. After another 15 minutes or so I was still getting the alcohol and astringency, but this time with a hint of straw or grass.
Dinner was Pittsburgh style Ribeye, medium rare (using lump oak charcoal and hickory/mesquite smoking chips) and mashed potatoes, with an appetizer of tortilla soup. I can see this being a food wine as the food was almost necessary to cut through the harshness.
Day 2 – It seemed much more drinkable today, so much so that my wife helped herself to some before telling me she saved around glass left in the bottle… She said it was much better today. after not being impressed the first. Tannins/Acidity mellowed out big time. Nose was cherry and alcohol. I was able to get hints of raspberry and melon with a nice acidity.
Day 3 – Cherry on the nose. Alcohol and acid were much less dominant today. I detected somewhat earthy notes with subdued melon and maybe mint.
Definitely a food wine at the moment and rather young, but I think this could be a good wine after some time in the cellar, especially at the price point. Upon researching, I was seeing $11.99-$15, so I was thinking Casemates price would be $8-$10. Looks like the case price lines up.
@rjquillin I ended up “borrowing” her glass to taste on Day 2 so I could still have a Day 3. It was funny because I even pulled out a 2017 E11ven Pinot from my stash to lure her away from drinking the Rat bottle, but nope… she went for the open bottle… The E11ven was the closest thing I had on hand for comparison, but not anywhere close the same ballpark… It wouldn’t be fair to compare the two…
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2021 Dante Pinot Noir - $20 = 15.38%
Thank you to Casemates for the opportunity to try the Dante Pinot Noir! I’m a big fan of Pinot Noir and we both found this very drinkable.
In the glass it’s a bright purplish red and at first pour I picked up notes of plum, berry, and a little spice. This was tasty wine on its own and also paired very well with our dinner of grilled salmon and broccolini. Notes from dinner are that although we liked the wine on its own it really shone along with the meal. Both of us thought it was juicy and medium bodied. Tannins are present but not overwhelming. The flavors we got were fresh berries and a hint of spice and light earthiness.
Both the flavors and aroma were fairly restrained and I’m curious how these bottles will taste after some more aging but its definitely drinkable now. We estimated this to be a $15 to $20 bottle so the Casemates price is an excellent deal!
A Napa Valley Winery producing a California appellation wine (why?). I guess that is why the price is what it is. I see Dante is the more “approachable wine” (less expensive). Based on the tasting notes I highly doubt it spent 18 months in oak as stated. It must have been in neutral barrels. I guess if you can get a drinkable Pinot for under $10 you are doing pretty good. Not quite the diamond in the rough but sounds like you get what you pay for.
@Shoug well, it could have spent 18 months IN oak, and it certainly would have been neutral oak barrels - and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. It also could have spent time in stainless with oak staves or chips added - the wording might be a bit different if that was the case but not necessarily. In any event, this is a very reasonably priced pinot and therefore I’m guessing a lot of the fruit comes from Monterrey County and probably inland as well. Also note that even though it is labeled ‘Pinot Noir’, it certainly could have up to 25% of other varieties in there. Again, for the price, I would not be expecting ‘high end’ Sonoma or Sta Rita Hills but that’s okay . . .
2021 Dante Pinot Noir
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$192.00/Case for 12x 2021 Dante Pinot Noir at Michael Pozzan Winery
About The Wineries
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Feb 5 - Tuesday, Feb 6
2021 Dante Pinot Noir
6 bottles for $64.99 $10.83/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $109.99 $9.17/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Thanks to Alice and @WineDavid49 for choosing me to be a Lab Rat for the first time! This is also the first time I’ve attempted to make any sort of tasting notes aside from “It’s good!” or “meh”. I actually had to crack open a couple of dusty old wine books I’ve had nearly 20 years for a refresher on the lingo and methodology for proper tasting. This was definitely a learning experience for me…
PnP – Deep garnet color with no sediment. Initially, I was only able to detect alcohol on the nose. Palate was very astringent and grapefruity. It definitely needs some time to breathe. 15+ Minutes later, the harshness toned down revealing notes of vanilla and mellon with a light quick finish. 45 minutes after second pour – red berry on the nose. Vanilla and alcohol on the palate, somewhat jammy. Less harsh and more mellowed out than the initial pour. After another 15 minutes or so I was still getting the alcohol and astringency, but this time with a hint of straw or grass.
Dinner was Pittsburgh style Ribeye, medium rare (using lump oak charcoal and hickory/mesquite smoking chips) and mashed potatoes, with an appetizer of tortilla soup. I can see this being a food wine as the food was almost necessary to cut through the harshness.
Day 2 – It seemed much more drinkable today, so much so that my wife helped herself to some before telling me she saved around glass left in the bottle… She said it was much better today. after not being impressed the first. Tannins/Acidity mellowed out big time. Nose was cherry and alcohol. I was able to get hints of raspberry and melon with a nice acidity.
Day 3 – Cherry on the nose. Alcohol and acid were much less dominant today. I detected somewhat earthy notes with subdued melon and maybe mint.
Definitely a food wine at the moment and rather young, but I think this could be a good wine after some time in the cellar, especially at the price point. Upon researching, I was seeing $11.99-$15, so I was thinking Casemates price would be $8-$10. Looks like the case price lines up.
@maht87
Did you just sniff empty bottle fumes for that day three note?
@rjquillin I ended up “borrowing” her glass to taste on Day 2 so I could still have a Day 3. It was funny because I even pulled out a 2017 E11ven Pinot from my stash to lure her away from drinking the Rat bottle, but nope… she went for the open bottle… The E11ven was the closest thing I had on hand for comparison, but not anywhere close the same ballpark… It wouldn’t be fair to compare the two…
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2021 Dante Pinot Noir - $20 = 15.38%
Thank you to Casemates for the opportunity to try the Dante Pinot Noir! I’m a big fan of Pinot Noir and we both found this very drinkable.
In the glass it’s a bright purplish red and at first pour I picked up notes of plum, berry, and a little spice. This was tasty wine on its own and also paired very well with our dinner of grilled salmon and broccolini. Notes from dinner are that although we liked the wine on its own it really shone along with the meal. Both of us thought it was juicy and medium bodied. Tannins are present but not overwhelming. The flavors we got were fresh berries and a hint of spice and light earthiness.
Both the flavors and aroma were fairly restrained and I’m curious how these bottles will taste after some more aging but its definitely drinkable now. We estimated this to be a $15 to $20 bottle so the Casemates price is an excellent deal!
A Napa Valley Winery producing a California appellation wine (why?). I guess that is why the price is what it is. I see Dante is the more “approachable wine” (less expensive). Based on the tasting notes I highly doubt it spent 18 months in oak as stated. It must have been in neutral barrels. I guess if you can get a drinkable Pinot for under $10 you are doing pretty good. Not quite the diamond in the rough but sounds like you get what you pay for.
@Shoug well, it could have spent 18 months IN oak, and it certainly would have been neutral oak barrels - and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. It also could have spent time in stainless with oak staves or chips added - the wording might be a bit different if that was the case but not necessarily. In any event, this is a very reasonably priced pinot and therefore I’m guessing a lot of the fruit comes from Monterrey County and probably inland as well. Also note that even though it is labeled ‘Pinot Noir’, it certainly could have up to 25% of other varieties in there. Again, for the price, I would not be expecting ‘high end’ Sonoma or Sta Rita Hills but that’s okay . . .