Mirassou - 2013 Pinot Noir

A friend of mine got married recently. Almost a year ago now, I guess. We've lost touch, both of us absorbed in our own lives. But recently, we met at the Plaza in Kansas City with another mutual friend to talk about old times.

Old times were not really talked about. It was mostly awkward silence and stilted conversation. This is a man I had a short relationship with. Things have always been tense between us, whether we were sleeping together or not. So. Of course I drank a glass of wine before he showed up that night in hopes of giving the evening some social lubricant. That ploy was only moderately successful, and I was relieved when he went off on his own, saying he couldn't join us for dessert after all.

The night itself was not memorable, but the glass of wine was. My friend and I sat at the bar while we waited for our other friend, and I struck up a conversation with the bartender about different wines. I've discovered if you express an interest in wines and tell the bartender you're not sure which to go with, they will let you taste test a couple of wines. So that's what I did. It was a blind taste test between a wine that was $6 a glass and a wine that was $12 a glass. I tried them both, and one of them was significantly more robust, in my opinion. I told her which one, and she seemed surprised. "You know best," she told me, and revealed the one I had chosen.

The Mirassou. The $6 a glass wine. I was shocked. I really thought I had chosen the more expensive of the two.

I like it because it has a tart taste with a strong finish. I've decided that finish can make or break a wine for me. If the finish leaves me unsatisfied, I don't like it much, regardless of that initial taste. Even my brother, who really doesn't like wine (but always tries it, the goofball), can appreciate a wine that has a good finish.

Anyway. I spent the evening on the Plaza pleasantly buzzed on Mirassou, and it was such a good wine that the next time I went to the liquor store, I bought myself a bottle. It's kept well, surviving three different nights over the course of a week. The last night it was getting a little stale, but overall I'm impressed with how this wine held up.

I'm adding this to my list of favorites. It's at an affordable price point, it's pretty complex for a Pinot Noir, and it lasts past the first night it is opened. All good things!