HobNob Vin de Pays d'Oc Pinot Noir, 2006

This was billed as a red Burgundy on the wine list, but the smell, the taste and the price said otherwise. The wine was fruity, however, with smells and flavors to be expected from Pinot Noir, and it was a good accompaniment to smoked salmon pasta.

Smells and flavors included flowers, pomegranate, dark cherries and earth. The style was more New World than Old, but with mercifully few new oak traits. At less than $10 retail, this would be a serviceable Pinot Noir. It reminds me a bit of Pinot Evil, another French Vin de Pays which gives an honest, straightforward taste of Pinot Noir for about $5. For a few dollars more, I prefer the added depth of Louis Latour's Pinot Noir Valmoissine.