This month's quick sips focuses on Pinot Noir. Take a look at some excellent wines available to you.

Beringer Stanley Ranch Pinot Noir, 2002
Rich and complex with red and black cherry flavors. There are layers of flavor such as cassis, orange spice, leather, and tobacco. This is a delicate Pinot Noir that doesn't loose its crispness. A special wine worth every cent of it's $30 price tag.

Bouchaine Point Noir, 2002
This wine defines "great finish." It is light, silky, and delicate in structure. It is short of being a fruit bomb with cherries, plums and orange blossoms. The fruit is cut with flavors of coffee and spice. When you're looking for a special wine, this is a great choice for $20.

Jewel Pinot Noir, 2002
Good value with a straightforward structure. There are flavors of red cherries and oak. There is a nice dried spice finish. A good buy for $10.

Bella Wine Recommends

The Heartbreak Grape : A Journey in Search of the Perfect Pinot Noir, by Marq de Villiers
How to encapsulate the entire joys and heartbreak of winemaking? In a journey to discover the source of a great wine, de Villiers does the almost impossible. He also discovers the essence of not just one wine, but a grape. This journey includes Burgundy, the Bethlehem of Pinot Noir. This is not just de Villiers' story, but the story of Josh Jensen. Jensen learns the Burgundian style of winemaking and takes it back to the United States. Unfortuantely, Jensen finds himself clashing with the hi-tech methods of the US. Jensen struggles for 15-years to find the right soil in the right setting to grow the right crop so he could make the right wine from the most fickle of wine grapes, the Pinot Noir--the heartbreak grape.