On the nose, the 2016 Prohibido Pinot Noir opens itself little by little with aromas of dark cherry and a bit of vanilla. On the palate, you can still taste the dark cherries with some bright acid. The texture of the Pinot is smooth and this is an easy drinking wine.
This Pinot has a darker color because the grapes were grown on the Sonoma Coast where the weather is hotter. The darker color also comes from a 3 day cold soak and the 3 times per day punch downs.
Winery: Prohibido Wines
Owner/Winemaker: Cesar Reyes
Location: Sebastopol, CA
Prohibido Wines is the real expression of what the grapes want to become. Wine has to express its vintage, varietal characteristics and the appellation. We create wines with the grape varieties that are grown in the best appellation that identifies with the grape variety.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2016 Prohibido Pinot Noir - $40 = 22.21%
Why does it say the grapes are from a warmer climate because they’re on Sonoma coast? The coast is cooler!
Where, precisely, do these grapes come from? Sonoma coast is a big appellation. Apparently that’s why the true coastal wineries are trying to get a “West Sonoma coast” Ava defined.
@klezman Youre right the coast is cooler but we are pretty lucky to have a lot of micro climes. The Vineyard is in one of those micro climes souther of Sebastopol, where the weather is almost the same as Carneros Ava. We always refer to a warmer weather because a lot of people are taking Oregonian pinots as a reference for a lot fo reasons that you might know. Thats the reason why we like to say is coming from a warmer weather because our pinots get more color than pinots for Oregon, Sonoma coast is a big appellation that is also true. I hope you get the chance to taste this Pinot Noir. Cheers
Pinots get bottles shock sometimes but I took a bottle to méxico and I love it. It has nice aromas, darker than any typical Pinot from Oregon. Nice body with flavors of blackberries. You can really taste the Pinot noir caractheristics.
As a Bay Area sports fan, I was already looking forward to Wine Wednesday with the San Jose Sharks playing Colorado in game 7 of the NHL conference semi-finals. Practically simultaneously, the 2x defending NBA Champion (sorry NE Ohio) Golden State Warriors playing in game 5 of the NBA conference semi-finals against Houston. Being in utter sports utopia, the night was only going to get better when notification arrived of a very special delivery, a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. Prohibido Wines 2016 Sonoma Coast, to be specific, and their first Casemates offer at that!
Upon initial PnP, ripe grape hits my nose and after a couple of swirls, the unmistakeable velvety Pinot Noir texture is noticed with good viscosity. I note the wine is neither acidic or tannic, and leaves a cinnamon spice finish. I need to get dinner ready, and with the Warriors not quite started and the Sharks nursing a one goal lead after one period, time is of the essence.
After about an hour, I return to the wine. The wine has opened up considerably, with a delicacy characteristic of a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. The hue at the rim of the glass has that clear to distinct violet, and the nose has changed to black cherry. It pairs wonderful with the grilled chicken I am eating. I must admit I am a CA Pinot Noir fanatic, with my favorite AVA’s including the Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, Anderson Valley, and the Santa Maria Valley. The Sonoma Coast typically has cool, foggy mornings with sunny afternoons when the fog retreats. If the winemaker is on today, I’d be curious to know where the vineyards are located that the fruit was sourced for this wine?
The night ended historically successful for this Bay Area sports fan, with the Sharks winning a “win or go home” game 7 and the Warriors also defeating the Rockets. I saved a glass to sample for the next evening, and it has not changed much, with an essence of cherry, rosemary, and spice.
This bottle is waxed, and the only criticism I could possibly have is the label design could be improved
After tasting, I estimated Casemates pricing at $18/bottle price point for 4; with $13/bottle for a case. Now given the Casemates pricing, this is an easy weeknight drinker, or even could be given as a gift considering the wax. Especially considering this is the winemakers first Casemates offering, I plan to pickup a case if anyone in the Oakland/Alameda area wants to split!
If my fellow Casematers have any questions, please let me know. I’ll check this post throughout the day. Thank you to the entire WCC team for this opportunity!
@coolac5 We should open another bottle tonight so we can win in Houston and go to the conference finals. It would be nice to say bye to the oracle arena with another championship.
Hi all, it’s your friendly neighborhood rodent! I’m afraid I can’t translate the winery’s bizarre marketing-speak, nor can I explain what, exactly, is prohibited here. But I can tell you what the wine tastes like. So that’s something, right?
On pouring, the wine seems to have almost a dusty color, like a hint of brown mixed with purple. I notice a tiny bit of sediment in the glass. This tracks with the theme of this whole bottle: namely, that it acts older than it really is, with a lovely depth and complexity.
At first whiff, I definitely get some heat. Ditto on first sip. I notice every bit of the 14.4% ABV here. The initial burn quickly resolves to a deep fruit, I characterized it as blackberry-ish, maybe just a hint of leather. (Mrs. Z described it better, I think: she said she got black currant, tobacco, and woody notes.)
The taste was, at first, mostly front of the mouth – not at all tannic or lingering at the back. Again, I don’t know how to describe the overall experience except to say it tastes and looks more aged than it is. Perhaps someone smarter than I could identify some terroir - it definitely has an earthiness to it.
Dinner was a lovely muffaletta sandwich with some fancy local salume and a homemade (rather spicy) olive salad. This, it turns out, was a fascinating pairing. The wine stood up very well indeed to the spicy and pungent food. But it changed its character considerably while doing so. Towit: it got fruitier and sweeter. Balanced against the spice, I get a much more lingering sense of residual sugar, along with a not-unpleasant bitterness at the finish. Though, here it is again, I also notice the alcohol a little more too. Mrs. Z agrees that the wine matched wits with the spicy briny goodness quite nicely; she says she notices more of the fruit when drinking it with the food.
Speaking of fruit, just for fun, after the sandwich, we stole a few of our son’s raspberries and tried eating them plain and then sipping the wine. Suddenly the wine seems markedly drier. A totally different experience. I liked that matchup, Mrs. Z didn’t.
Saved ourselves a glass for the following day, and enjoyed it with a pesto pasta made with peas and leftover easter ham. The wine held up very nicely indeed. Not quite as sweet here, matched up against a rich but not too spicy meal. Just as charming and distinctive, however. (And boozy. Still just as hot the next day.)
Bottom line: this sucker is unusual, distinctive, and not reminiscent of any other pinot noir I’ve consumed. To give some context, both of us are big fans of pinot - it lets us meet in the middle on our red wine tastes. (She loves a big fruit bomb zinfandel, I usually prefer something more subtle, and occasionally a nice tannin-heavy cab.) The recent offer of Torii Mor pinot was a case autobuy for us. (Although this may have something to do with our lovely visit to the winery some years ago. They had a nice cat.)
I bring up Torii Mor mostly to tell you that this wine is nothing like it. (Or like any of the other good Oregon pinots we’ve met.) Rather, this wine feels, for better or worse, like walking into Grandpa’s private pipe room. At least until you serve spicy food. Then it turns into a zinfandel. And then you have some fruit and it turns into a malbec. Perhaps this black magic is why it’s “prohibido?” It’s like the lambada of wines.
I guessed $35 WSRP for this bottle; Mrs. Z guessed $30. She was temporarily impressed with me for hitting it on the nose, I enjoyed the sensation while it lasted. I’d call this an excellent QPR for what you’re getting, just know that you’re getting something unusual.
We’ll be buying a 4-pack. It’s a lovely wine and I like the idea of having a few bottles around for when we need something to stand up to a pungent dinner. I’d have this with Indian food (or maybe even spicy Thai, in place of my normal go-to of a sweet Riesling). Perhaps with a steak too. But it’s definitely not an everyday drinker, and I feel like I might eventually get annoyed with a case of it.
I seem to have once again been a rather wordy rat. Hopefully all this is helpful to someone. Happy to pop back and answer any questions folks might have.
@jakezim sediments in the wine glass?? I’m sorry to hear about that. The wine got sterile filter a week before it got bottled. Before it goes to the bottling line, the bottling line uses another type of filter as well to prevent any type of sediments. The name of the wine “Prohibido” it’s because as we all know alcohol was constituitional ban in USA from 1920 to 1933 I believe. Thank’s for the review.
My apologies for the lateness (and brevity) of this review. I was on a business trip and just got back last night. Fortunately, we were able to squeeze in a late dinner and sample this offering.
Appearance: Dark ruby, clear and free of sediment. The ambient (mood) lighting in our restaurant made it somewhat difficult to be more specific.
Aroma: This was a basic PnP. Cherry with a bit of earthiness. I did not get any vanilla. No discernible alcohol.
Flavor: More full bodied on the pinot scale, very mild tannins, with cherry cola being the predominant flavor profile. Good acidity. This went well with our sushi dinner.
Overall impressions: This is a straightforward, varietally correct pinot. Good acidity makes it a good food wine. My guess on the Casemates case price was $10-12, which was spot on. I think it delivers at this price point. A nice, crowd pleasing wine. Not terribly complex, but solid.
My building didn’t have power the last 24+ hours but I wanted to make sure to get this up by whatever means possible. I have succeeded!
I was so excited to rat; got an email on Tuesday; bottle arrived Wednesday. I made sure to try a glass Wednesday evening. I love pinot noir in general but more Willamette Valley and possibly an old-world Burgundy. I’ve been getting into darker, richer wines as well. I mostly don’t drink sweet and prefer reds to white.
When I opened the box, I was excited to see a pinot noir and from Sonoma. When I opened the box and saw the wax, I was worried. I opened the bottle Wednesday night so I could have a glass Wednesday, a glass Thursday, and a glass Friday. It took quite a bit of work to get that wax off, and I even had to call in my husband to help me. I went into the wine tasting fairly biased. I decided unless the wine was amazing, there was no way I’d spend my money on something I’d have to stress over opening. Boy, do I regret my hesitancy. This wine rocked.
With an initial pour, the color was a bit plummy. Deep red and pretty heavy (I’d say medium bodied) for a pinot noir. The smell was very juicy, heavy in cherry and just a note of spice and leather. I like my pinot noir a bit more oaked than this one. The first sip was JUICY. Like fruit in your face, take a step back, full mouth of wine juice. I could tell from one sip that the wine could lay down a few years but was also delicious now. I wasn’t sure how it would hold up to food, so I tried it with a few things. Gross with cheese, as it made the wine taste funky ( I tried parm and brie); not great with beef; fine with chocolate. I’m allergic to tomatoes but I have a feeling this would go great with pasta. As I got through the glass, I was wishing for more oak and spice, but I think that’s personal preference. I got some notes of vanilla, quite a few layers, and some nice darker fruit on a very late finish. I love a good finish and was very happy with this wine.
My husband tried a glass day 2. I didn’t like the wine as much day 2 as some acidity had come out, which I think will mellow with age. I did get a bit more layering and less juice, which was nice. It also went well with a burger on day 2. My husband LOVED this wine and said to go in for a case if the bottle was under $20. I thought to myself that I’d buy a few or a case if it was under $12.
Seeing the price, this is a pretty amazing deal for a wine that can drink now or you could potentially hold a couple years. Unless you don’t want to deal with the wax. Oh, that wax.
I’ll try my last glass tonight as I really think the third day tells you a lot about a wine. I’ll post then, as long as my internet agrees.
@jchasma you are so VERY right about the wax. I didn’t want to gripe about it, but it took two adults and a preschooler several very challenging minutes to get the $&!@&!! wax off.
@prohibidowine WHOA! I wish this had been sent with my rat wine. If this is to be believed, it doesn’t look like much of a problem. I appreciate you chiming in!
@jakezim@jchasma next time ignore the wax and open the bottle like there is not wax on ti. you can screw the cork opener direct. We will put some tape before we wax the bottles so everybody can just tare the tape and open the top of the wax.
@PaleMongo@prohibidowine weird, I had no overlays…the lesson is, just use the corkscrew and pull through the wax. Tear off any remainder after you pull the cork. Super easy (on the video), and I did not know this. I would have tried to cut it off.
This may not be the correct place for this discussion, as it applies to many wines in the marketplace.
I’m a big fan of small wineries, and feel lucky that through CM and WW we have the opportunity to buy great wines from many smaller wineries at great prices…nice combo!
I’m not a fan of “national brand” wines, nor of national brand restaurants, etc.
When I see two different names on a label, or when I look on a winery’s website and I see another winery named I wonder if I am truly buying wine from a small winery with the owner getting his hands dirty, or am I buying wine from a large corp. and the owner(s) never see the grapes.
On both the label and the cork I see both Prohibido and Meadowcroft…hence my question. When there is a small winery that is owned by a large group, is there a greater probability that profit margins are a greater determinate as to what goes into the bottle?
If this should go into a different thread…I’ll repost it.
To all the Mom’s out there…have a great Mother’s Day! Hopefully someone will raise a glass to you!
@mrn1 Hi thanks for your question. We are a pretty small wine producer. In order to make wine you need to be a bonded winery. We pay some fees to make wine under a winery that has a bond. There are places “wineries” that are called custom crush facility where they charge a fee to use their equipment to make wine and their bond. Meadowcroft has an excellent team and their people are really great to us. We want to say thank you to them for helping us with to develop our passion to make wine.
@mrn1@prohibidowine so you pick your own grapes, have complete control over the winemaking process, and make all the profit? In short, you are simply bonded by Meadowcroft and use their facilities?
I am interested in the story behind the wine. Hat was your trajectory to making wine? Prohibido peeks my interest and would appreciate the historical piece. Salud!
@losthighwayz it’s a long story. I’ll try to be short. I came to visit my uncle in Santa Rosa C.A for the weekend. I’ll mention this just so you can understand part of the story. I have a background in biology and chemistry.
I went to help my uncle to clean a winery at night I didn’t know that my life was going to change. I saw that place that used to be call vinovation and I fell in love with that place. I saw the tanks that were huge to me at that time. I saw the equipment at the winery, at the lab.
literally I saw in real life what I have seen pretty much just in books. I told my uncle to see if there was any opening at that place. He was kind enough to ask if there was an opening. Three days later I had an interview over the phone. Two weeks later I was already working in Vinovation. I had the opportunity to work for a lot of wineries working for vinovation and doing harvests directly to small, medium and big scale wine production. When the SRJC offered their fruits viticulture management certificate, I was able to enroll there. I’m not sure if we were the first or second promotion from that program. From there I have been lucky enough to travel to a lot of places where wine is made. I have seen how the industry has evolved and how it has changed, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad, from my point of view.
Regarding about the name seems to me there is a lot of stuff that are forbidden or prohibited since we are born. Some of them make sense some of them don’t it all depends how you look at it. Alcohol was prohibited back in 1922. I thought let’s call it prohibido. One because it was prohibited believed or not and second I wanted to name it in Spanish because as many know, different languages, dancing and music are some of these things that get us together. Cheers.
@karenhynes@losthighwayz@rjquillin for free SO2 is relative. PH has a lot to do most of the people use between 30 to 35 ppm. I tried to be kind of active. Thank you
@losthighwayz sorry, my phone didn’t alert me when I got your message. The wine held up! It went great with my pork chop and rice. The acidity was a little more prominent and the wine seemed sweeter but less fruit bomb. I’d say more new world.
Bright acid with a pH over 3.7? Explain. SO2 of “16%”? Utterly ridiculous, said the Perfectly Scientific Winemaker Whose Wines Are Up Next. But I’m ordering some, so don’t think you were insulted for nothing!
Tasting Notes
On the nose, the 2016 Prohibido Pinot Noir opens itself little by little with aromas of dark cherry and a bit of vanilla. On the palate, you can still taste the dark cherries with some bright acid. The texture of the Pinot is smooth and this is an easy drinking wine.
This Pinot has a darker color because the grapes were grown on the Sonoma Coast where the weather is hotter. The darker color also comes from a 3 day cold soak and the 3 times per day punch downs.
Specifications
Price Comparison
$454.21/case (including shipping) at Prohibido Wines
About The Winery
Winery: Prohibido Wines
Owner/Winemaker: Cesar Reyes
Location: Sebastopol, CA
Prohibido Wines is the real expression of what the grapes want to become. Wine has to express its vintage, varietal characteristics and the appellation. We create wines with the grape varieties that are grown in the best appellation that identifies with the grape variety.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, June 6th - Monday, June 10th
Prohibido Pinot Noir
4 bottles for $59.99 $15/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $139.99 $11.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2016 Prohibido Pinot Noir - $40 = 22.21%
Well, I’d say I was hoping for rats…but no IL shipping (again). This is becoming all too common, but saving my wallet.
@karenhynes Ship to IN?
Gary isn’t all that far is it?
Or even E. Chicago, Hammond…
@karenhynes @rjquillin
Stop in Hammond, pick up some 3Floyds along with wine. Win/win!
Why does it say the grapes are from a warmer climate because they’re on Sonoma coast? The coast is cooler!
Where, precisely, do these grapes come from? Sonoma coast is a big appellation. Apparently that’s why the true coastal wineries are trying to get a “West Sonoma coast” Ava defined.
@klezman Youre right the coast is cooler but we are pretty lucky to have a lot of micro climes. The Vineyard is in one of those micro climes souther of Sebastopol, where the weather is almost the same as Carneros Ava. We always refer to a warmer weather because a lot of people are taking Oregonian pinots as a reference for a lot fo reasons that you might know. Thats the reason why we like to say is coming from a warmer weather because our pinots get more color than pinots for Oregon, Sonoma coast is a big appellation that is also true. I hope you get the chance to taste this Pinot Noir. Cheers
Pinots get bottles shock sometimes but I took a bottle to méxico and I love it. It has nice aromas, darker than any typical Pinot from Oregon. Nice body with flavors of blackberries. You can really taste the Pinot noir caractheristics.
As a Bay Area sports fan, I was already looking forward to Wine Wednesday with the San Jose Sharks playing Colorado in game 7 of the NHL conference semi-finals. Practically simultaneously, the 2x defending NBA Champion (sorry NE Ohio) Golden State Warriors playing in game 5 of the NBA conference semi-finals against Houston. Being in utter sports utopia, the night was only going to get better when notification arrived of a very special delivery, a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. Prohibido Wines 2016 Sonoma Coast, to be specific, and their first Casemates offer at that!
Upon initial PnP, ripe grape hits my nose and after a couple of swirls, the unmistakeable velvety Pinot Noir texture is noticed with good viscosity. I note the wine is neither acidic or tannic, and leaves a cinnamon spice finish. I need to get dinner ready, and with the Warriors not quite started and the Sharks nursing a one goal lead after one period, time is of the essence.
After about an hour, I return to the wine. The wine has opened up considerably, with a delicacy characteristic of a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. The hue at the rim of the glass has that clear to distinct violet, and the nose has changed to black cherry. It pairs wonderful with the grilled chicken I am eating. I must admit I am a CA Pinot Noir fanatic, with my favorite AVA’s including the Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, Anderson Valley, and the Santa Maria Valley. The Sonoma Coast typically has cool, foggy mornings with sunny afternoons when the fog retreats. If the winemaker is on today, I’d be curious to know where the vineyards are located that the fruit was sourced for this wine?
The night ended historically successful for this Bay Area sports fan, with the Sharks winning a “win or go home” game 7 and the Warriors also defeating the Rockets. I saved a glass to sample for the next evening, and it has not changed much, with an essence of cherry, rosemary, and spice.
This bottle is waxed, and the only criticism I could possibly have is the label design could be improved
After tasting, I estimated Casemates pricing at $18/bottle price point for 4; with $13/bottle for a case. Now given the Casemates pricing, this is an easy weeknight drinker, or even could be given as a gift considering the wax. Especially considering this is the winemakers first Casemates offering, I plan to pickup a case if anyone in the Oakland/Alameda area wants to split!
If my fellow Casematers have any questions, please let me know. I’ll check this post throughout the day. Thank you to the entire WCC team for this opportunity!
@coolac5 great Rattage! I suspect this Pinot will be sublime in about 3-5yrs. It sounds like a big Pinot!
@coolac5 @winesnob I think you’re on the money on both counts.
@coolac5 We should open another bottle tonight so we can win in Houston and go to the conference finals. It would be nice to say bye to the oracle arena with another championship.
@coolac5 @prohibidowine Never underestimate the heart of a champion
Hi all, it’s your friendly neighborhood rodent! I’m afraid I can’t translate the winery’s bizarre marketing-speak, nor can I explain what, exactly, is prohibited here. But I can tell you what the wine tastes like. So that’s something, right?
On pouring, the wine seems to have almost a dusty color, like a hint of brown mixed with purple. I notice a tiny bit of sediment in the glass. This tracks with the theme of this whole bottle: namely, that it acts older than it really is, with a lovely depth and complexity.
At first whiff, I definitely get some heat. Ditto on first sip. I notice every bit of the 14.4% ABV here. The initial burn quickly resolves to a deep fruit, I characterized it as blackberry-ish, maybe just a hint of leather. (Mrs. Z described it better, I think: she said she got black currant, tobacco, and woody notes.)
The taste was, at first, mostly front of the mouth – not at all tannic or lingering at the back. Again, I don’t know how to describe the overall experience except to say it tastes and looks more aged than it is. Perhaps someone smarter than I could identify some terroir - it definitely has an earthiness to it.
Dinner was a lovely muffaletta sandwich with some fancy local salume and a homemade (rather spicy) olive salad. This, it turns out, was a fascinating pairing. The wine stood up very well indeed to the spicy and pungent food. But it changed its character considerably while doing so. Towit: it got fruitier and sweeter. Balanced against the spice, I get a much more lingering sense of residual sugar, along with a not-unpleasant bitterness at the finish. Though, here it is again, I also notice the alcohol a little more too. Mrs. Z agrees that the wine matched wits with the spicy briny goodness quite nicely; she says she notices more of the fruit when drinking it with the food.
Speaking of fruit, just for fun, after the sandwich, we stole a few of our son’s raspberries and tried eating them plain and then sipping the wine. Suddenly the wine seems markedly drier. A totally different experience. I liked that matchup, Mrs. Z didn’t.
Saved ourselves a glass for the following day, and enjoyed it with a pesto pasta made with peas and leftover easter ham. The wine held up very nicely indeed. Not quite as sweet here, matched up against a rich but not too spicy meal. Just as charming and distinctive, however. (And boozy. Still just as hot the next day.)
Bottom line: this sucker is unusual, distinctive, and not reminiscent of any other pinot noir I’ve consumed. To give some context, both of us are big fans of pinot - it lets us meet in the middle on our red wine tastes. (She loves a big fruit bomb zinfandel, I usually prefer something more subtle, and occasionally a nice tannin-heavy cab.) The recent offer of Torii Mor pinot was a case autobuy for us. (Although this may have something to do with our lovely visit to the winery some years ago. They had a nice cat.)
I bring up Torii Mor mostly to tell you that this wine is nothing like it. (Or like any of the other good Oregon pinots we’ve met.) Rather, this wine feels, for better or worse, like walking into Grandpa’s private pipe room. At least until you serve spicy food. Then it turns into a zinfandel. And then you have some fruit and it turns into a malbec. Perhaps this black magic is why it’s “prohibido?” It’s like the lambada of wines.
I guessed $35 WSRP for this bottle; Mrs. Z guessed $30. She was temporarily impressed with me for hitting it on the nose, I enjoyed the sensation while it lasted. I’d call this an excellent QPR for what you’re getting, just know that you’re getting something unusual.
We’ll be buying a 4-pack. It’s a lovely wine and I like the idea of having a few bottles around for when we need something to stand up to a pungent dinner. I’d have this with Indian food (or maybe even spicy Thai, in place of my normal go-to of a sweet Riesling). Perhaps with a steak too. But it’s definitely not an everyday drinker, and I feel like I might eventually get annoyed with a case of it.
I seem to have once again been a rather wordy rat. Hopefully all this is helpful to someone. Happy to pop back and answer any questions folks might have.
@jakezim great rattage! Our reports are similar.
@jakezim thanks for the notes.
@jakezim sediments in the wine glass?? I’m sorry to hear about that. The wine got sterile filter a week before it got bottled. Before it goes to the bottling line, the bottling line uses another type of filter as well to prevent any type of sediments. The name of the wine “Prohibido” it’s because as we all know alcohol was constituitional ban in USA from 1920 to 1933 I believe. Thank’s for the review.
@jakezim Thanks for detailed review. You bring up an important question: Does Prohibido have a winery cat, and if so, is it nice?
Great Rattage! You have me on the damn fence! I love Sonoma Pinot!
Haiku:
The Rats have spoken
Reminds of private pipe room
Perhaps time to buy?
My apologies for the lateness (and brevity) of this review. I was on a business trip and just got back last night. Fortunately, we were able to squeeze in a late dinner and sample this offering.
Appearance: Dark ruby, clear and free of sediment. The ambient (mood) lighting in our restaurant made it somewhat difficult to be more specific.
Aroma: This was a basic PnP. Cherry with a bit of earthiness. I did not get any vanilla. No discernible alcohol.
Flavor: More full bodied on the pinot scale, very mild tannins, with cherry cola being the predominant flavor profile. Good acidity. This went well with our sushi dinner.
Overall impressions: This is a straightforward, varietally correct pinot. Good acidity makes it a good food wine. My guess on the Casemates case price was $10-12, which was spot on. I think it delivers at this price point. A nice, crowd pleasing wine. Not terribly complex, but solid.
My building didn’t have power the last 24+ hours but I wanted to make sure to get this up by whatever means possible. I have succeeded!
I was so excited to rat; got an email on Tuesday; bottle arrived Wednesday. I made sure to try a glass Wednesday evening. I love pinot noir in general but more Willamette Valley and possibly an old-world Burgundy. I’ve been getting into darker, richer wines as well. I mostly don’t drink sweet and prefer reds to white.
When I opened the box, I was excited to see a pinot noir and from Sonoma. When I opened the box and saw the wax, I was worried. I opened the bottle Wednesday night so I could have a glass Wednesday, a glass Thursday, and a glass Friday. It took quite a bit of work to get that wax off, and I even had to call in my husband to help me. I went into the wine tasting fairly biased. I decided unless the wine was amazing, there was no way I’d spend my money on something I’d have to stress over opening. Boy, do I regret my hesitancy. This wine rocked.
With an initial pour, the color was a bit plummy. Deep red and pretty heavy (I’d say medium bodied) for a pinot noir. The smell was very juicy, heavy in cherry and just a note of spice and leather. I like my pinot noir a bit more oaked than this one. The first sip was JUICY. Like fruit in your face, take a step back, full mouth of wine juice. I could tell from one sip that the wine could lay down a few years but was also delicious now. I wasn’t sure how it would hold up to food, so I tried it with a few things. Gross with cheese, as it made the wine taste funky ( I tried parm and brie); not great with beef; fine with chocolate. I’m allergic to tomatoes but I have a feeling this would go great with pasta. As I got through the glass, I was wishing for more oak and spice, but I think that’s personal preference. I got some notes of vanilla, quite a few layers, and some nice darker fruit on a very late finish. I love a good finish and was very happy with this wine.
My husband tried a glass day 2. I didn’t like the wine as much day 2 as some acidity had come out, which I think will mellow with age. I did get a bit more layering and less juice, which was nice. It also went well with a burger on day 2. My husband LOVED this wine and said to go in for a case if the bottle was under $20. I thought to myself that I’d buy a few or a case if it was under $12.
Seeing the price, this is a pretty amazing deal for a wine that can drink now or you could potentially hold a couple years. Unless you don’t want to deal with the wax. Oh, that wax.
I’ll try my last glass tonight as I really think the third day tells you a lot about a wine. I’ll post then, as long as my internet agrees.
@jchasma
@jchasma you are so VERY right about the wax. I didn’t want to gripe about it, but it took two adults and a preschooler several very challenging minutes to get the $&!@&!! wax off.
@jchasma Hi Im sorry you have hard times to remove the wax. Here is a video that will help you to open it next time. Cheers
@prohibidowine WHOA! I wish this had been sent with my rat wine. If this is to be believed, it doesn’t look like much of a problem. I appreciate you chiming in!
@prohibidowine Video fail. The overlays obscure the primary focus of the video… same on YT, fullscreen or not
@jakezim @jchasma next time ignore the wax and open the bottle like there is not wax on ti. you can screw the cork opener direct. We will put some tape before we wax the bottles so everybody can just tare the tape and open the top of the wax.
@PaleMongo @prohibidowine weird, I had no overlays…the lesson is, just use the corkscrew and pull through the wax. Tear off any remainder after you pull the cork. Super easy (on the video), and I did not know this. I would have tried to cut it off.
This may not be the correct place for this discussion, as it applies to many wines in the marketplace.
I’m a big fan of small wineries, and feel lucky that through CM and WW we have the opportunity to buy great wines from many smaller wineries at great prices…nice combo!
I’m not a fan of “national brand” wines, nor of national brand restaurants, etc.
When I see two different names on a label, or when I look on a winery’s website and I see another winery named I wonder if I am truly buying wine from a small winery with the owner getting his hands dirty, or am I buying wine from a large corp. and the owner(s) never see the grapes.
On both the label and the cork I see both Prohibido and Meadowcroft…hence my question. When there is a small winery that is owned by a large group, is there a greater probability that profit margins are a greater determinate as to what goes into the bottle?
If this should go into a different thread…I’ll repost it.
To all the Mom’s out there…have a great Mother’s Day! Hopefully someone will raise a glass to you!
@mrn1 Hi thanks for your question. We are a pretty small wine producer. In order to make wine you need to be a bonded winery. We pay some fees to make wine under a winery that has a bond. There are places “wineries” that are called custom crush facility where they charge a fee to use their equipment to make wine and their bond. Meadowcroft has an excellent team and their people are really great to us. We want to say thank you to them for helping us with to develop our passion to make wine.
@prohibidowine Thanks…I like that answer!
@mrn1 @prohibidowine so you pick your own grapes, have complete control over the winemaking process, and make all the profit? In short, you are simply bonded by Meadowcroft and use their facilities?
@losthighwayz @mrn1 @prohibidowine I think a lot of small wineries do this. The equipment is expensive.
@losthighwayz @mrn1 we dont pick our own grapes but we have all control of the wine from the beginning to the end.
@CorTot @losthighwayz @mrn1 yeah there are a lot of small producers that do that.
Massive-Vocal-nettle
/8ball Should I buy this one?
As I see it, yes
/8ball will my wife like this Pinot?
My reply is no
@redjeep0 Darn. I was thinking of buying
/giphy terrified-difficult-grain
I am interested in the story behind the wine. Hat was your trajectory to making wine? Prohibido peeks my interest and would appreciate the historical piece. Salud!
@losthighwayz it’s a long story. I’ll try to be short. I came to visit my uncle in Santa Rosa C.A for the weekend. I’ll mention this just so you can understand part of the story. I have a background in biology and chemistry.
I went to help my uncle to clean a winery at night I didn’t know that my life was going to change. I saw that place that used to be call vinovation and I fell in love with that place. I saw the tanks that were huge to me at that time. I saw the equipment at the winery, at the lab.
literally I saw in real life what I have seen pretty much just in books. I told my uncle to see if there was any opening at that place. He was kind enough to ask if there was an opening. Three days later I had an interview over the phone. Two weeks later I was already working in Vinovation. I had the opportunity to work for a lot of wineries working for vinovation and doing harvests directly to small, medium and big scale wine production. When the SRJC offered their fruits viticulture management certificate, I was able to enroll there. I’m not sure if we were the first or second promotion from that program. From there I have been lucky enough to travel to a lot of places where wine is made. I have seen how the industry has evolved and how it has changed, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad, from my point of view.
Regarding about the name seems to me there is a lot of stuff that are forbidden or prohibited since we are born. Some of them make sense some of them don’t it all depends how you look at it. Alcohol was prohibited back in 1922. I thought let’s call it prohibido. One because it was prohibited believed or not and second I wanted to name it in Spanish because as many know, different languages, dancing and music are some of these things that get us together. Cheers.
@losthighwayz @karenhynes @prohibidowine Great to have you so active today; makes a huge difference.
What are considered normal ranges for Free SO2?
What else might you bottle we could look for?
Perhaps, even here in the future.
@losthighwayz @prohibidowine
I love your story! Thanks so much for sharing it, and your wine, with the CaseMates community! Cheers!
@karenhynes @losthighwayz @rjquillin for free SO2 is relative. PH has a lot to do most of the people use between 30 to 35 ppm. I tried to be kind of active. Thank you
@karenhynes @losthighwayz my pleasure.
@jchasma Enabler! Lol how was day 3? Also, by acidity do you mean there is a bite to it? Finally, is this old or new world in your opinion?
@losthighwayz sorry, my phone didn’t alert me when I got your message. The wine held up! It went great with my pork chop and rice. The acidity was a little more prominent and the wine seemed sweeter but less fruit bomb. I’d say more new world.
Bright acid with a pH over 3.7? Explain. SO2 of “16%”? Utterly ridiculous, said the Perfectly Scientific Winemaker Whose Wines Are Up Next. But I’m ordering some, so don’t think you were insulted for nothing!
@ZeppelinWinery
Likely a typo, no?
16 ppm with a pH over 3.7 = basically nothing
I’m not claiming this is a crime - especially as free SO2 (and molecular, which does the work) typically goes to zip within months of bottling anyway
I’m just warming up here so I can trash my own swill in 16 minutes
and nobody’s reading this except Alexis, and only if I interrupt her sappy movie to show her what an ass I’m being!
@ZeppelinWinery what the heck is free so2? In everyday English please