Anyone familair with Balletto Pinot RRV?

I am on the search for new pinots that I may like. In fact, I am going to post on some new pinot wineries that I have been trying recently. I got an e-mail offer today on this winery, and I was wondering if anyone is familiar with them at all.

Hi Bob,
I’ve had a few bottles of Balleto, i think a few various Pinots. I have a buddy who swears by them qpr wise. I didnt take notes but I remember them being pleasant dark fruit, ginger spice flavor profile. Not gonna knock your socks off but for sub-$20 a nice daily drinker. Hope that helps.

It’s been a while, Bob…I only tasted once at the winery in 2006. But FWIW…

"2001 Balletto Estate Pinot Noir

Spices—allspice in particular, but cumin too. Acid is there–maybe too much. I get some tomato on this. Volatile acidity? Not sure…if yes, the VA is pretty low-grade."

I think these are great QPRs. I met the owners at Taste of Sonoma a few years back and thought they were great. Worth a shot.

I’m not sure on the pricing, but have tasted them a couple of times at Pinot Days. I found them mostly unremarkable but of good quality. I think prior to 2008 they were within the Sonoma Coast appellation but were reboundried into RRV in 2008 (as i was told, something to do with Merry Edwards influence).

Wesmar makes a SV from their fruit that is excellent… if you place an order with Balletto i would suggest chasing down some Wesmar to compare.

I’m very familiar with their wines. They were growers for a number of years and then started making wines under their own label. One year my panel at the Sonoma Co. Harvest Fair judged 36 pinots. We gave 6 gold medals, two of which were Balletto. They entered two pinots and took two gold medals. They have good fruit and great balance (they aren’t as thick or as ripe as some) I think they are a great value for the reasonable prices. Well worth trying. (Until recently they shared a tasting room on their property with Dutton-Goldfield)

Balletto is at all the local events pouring. I have yet to have one of their wines that did anything for me.
My 2¢ worth

Hey Brian-someday we will find a wine we both like

It’s inevitable Bob

Thanks for the info. I don’t mind a good QPR wine, but the price of this offering was a tad higher than the QPR range as it was $28 a bottle. This ws the exact same price I got the 2001 Skewiss at sale at Zachy’s some years ago, and I just posted notes stating tht wine is not just great but profound. I don’t want to pay the same price for a QPR as well, so I’ll likely just pass.

Gee, Bob, I got the '85 Ponsot Clos de la Roche for $10 on sale some years ago. Maybe you should make that your QPR pinot. Seriously, my point is that wine prices are just higher today than they were “some years ago”. There are not many excellent or outstanding pinots around under $28.