Out-Take Wine Company Mendocino County Pinot Noir 2024

With an incredible knack for discovering and sourcing wines from prestigious estates across California, Out-Take offers exceptional, one-of-a-kind drinking experience at an unbelievable everyday price. Thanks to several unique factors—three consecutive large harvests, a steep drop in tourism from San Francisco to Napa to Sonoma, and softening demand for $80 Pinot Noir and $100 Cabernet Sauvignon—many premier winemakers and wineries are burdened with costly grape contracts and production expenses they cannot pass along to customers. This is where Out-Take comes in… going directly to the wineries with cash in hand, swooping in to buy the same wines (at a fifth of the price) that the estates are selling in their tasting rooms. Out-Take is a label born from opportunity, bringing phenomenal single-vineyard, world-class wines to market at everyday prices and delivering the some of the best quality-to-price U.S. wines we carry at the Princeton Corkscrew.

Out-Take's first offering is a lush, fine Pinot from a remote vineyard in Mendocino, precariously perched on a mountainside above the unincorporated community of Comptche. The vineyard was planted above the fog line ensuring warm daytime temperatures, though its significant elevation brings frigid nights, allowing for long, slow ripening. 2023 was a near-perfect vintage, with ample winter rain, followed by a cool growing season that allowed for a longer-than-average, extended hang time. Harvest was late — well into October — resulting in a remarkable, absolutely lights-out Pinot Noir.

Out-Take's 2023 Mendocino Pinot Noir is an incredible debut. The aromatics soar from the glass — thanks to that long, slow growing season — showcasing dark berry fruit laced with hints of sandalwood, baking spices and forest floor. The mouthfeel is lush — cascading like velvet across the palate — displaying juicy blackberry and black cherry flavors, yet this Pinot is incredibly light on its feet, gracefully pirouetting along a seemingly endless mineral streak. Think New World fruit with Burgundian stoniness and structure... This is an absolute steal at $20, do not miss this opportunity to stock up today! Fantastically versatile on the dinner table, the Out-Take Pinot Noir can be enjoyed with a range of dishes: wild mushroom risotto, grilled salmon, pan-seared duck breasts with a blackberry-thyme glaze or classic roast chicken.