I ran across this blog post the other day: Grilling this weekend you say…Jeff says…Go Pinot! It’s a nice little post on an affordable Monterey Pinot Noir. I love Monterey. I love Pinot Noir. What’s the deal, you ask?  Great question. There seem to be two types of Monterey County wines in production: wineries that you know and are familiar with and those you have heard of on a mass-production scale but have never see at the local ‘winevents’.

Jeff’s post, for example, MountainView Montery County Pinot Noir – I’ve never heard of Mountain View. The label looks vaguely familiar, but I can’t recall going to the tasting room or chatting up the owner/winemaker.  I did a search for the wine and it shows up on a blog out of England – interesting – exported Monterey County wines.  This is really what it comes down to: local production and consumption or mass production and exportation. (That’s not entirely true. Ventana and J. Lohr are a nice middle ground.) Another great example: Cupcake. Hugely, wildly popular and well-known among the American drinkers of affordable, half-decent wine. Related, tangentially at least, to Monterey. Never seen at any local event. Never been to or seen and advertisement for a tasting room. It makes me wonder what is out there that I’m missing. Probably quite a bit. Oh the adventures to come!