Grace, elegance, delicacy finesse: wine attributes not much treasured these days. Punch you in the face pointy pounders get all the glossy headlines. In the same way such wines anesthetize my palate, the heavy food required to stand up to these wines with glandular issues bloats us into a a culinary world that Botero would have painted. 

Then along comes a svelte, subtle beauty that reminds you that sometimes the experience of consumption is improved if it requires your brain to become more involved in the process instead of a sedated bystander. Such a wine touched me at a lunch at Chez Panisse recently. This very non-Botero like wine was the 2006 Menetou Salon Rouge of Domaine Philippe Gilbert. Not a place name likely to be familiar to many, but this almost moving wine comes from an area unknown by Americans for its wonderful sauvignon blanc (which I also love), which seems famous compared to its pinot noir, which no one knows they grow. In this relatively obscure Loire region the team of enologist Jean-Phillippe Louis and owner Philippe Gilbert have crafted a true work of art and, only due to the less than famous name, a bargain. This property started bio-dynamic agriculture in 2006 so, as good as this wine is, upcoming vintages must be staggering. 

This beautiful pinot noir graces your table with its almost exotic floral, spiced aromatics and flavors that touch your palate with the complex thrust and parry of a champion fencer rather than the Braveheart broadsword of so many wines today. If purity is what you want in your pinot noir you’ll find it here - and find it for less than $25.