I would say your best bet is to walk into a good wine store and ask for recommendations.

Just this year we moved to the east coast from Monterey County California. The Santa Lucia Highlands area grows wonderful pinot noir grapes, and the wineries there make some very nice wines. Figure your price point and ask at a good wine store for wines from any of those wineries (and others who make wine from the grapes but are not in that area), and you'll have a nice bottle for a gift. I can find Monterey County wines here in PA and in Delaware, so they are not rare.

Oregon is known for its Pinot Noir. There's so many wineries here I couldn't recommend one, and I'm not a wine drinker anyway. Outsideplaying travels here to attend a Pinot Noir fest so she might be able to recommend one.

One of my favorites is from R Stuart wineries. Any of their Pinots are great IMO, especially Autograph. They have a Big Fire label that is slightly cheaper. I just had some really nice Sean Minor Pinot tonight at our wine club that was $20. Let me look back at the label and make sure I get the right one.

I love many of the Willamette Valley Pinots, though, and you can visit a wine store and get some other recommendations based on your budget.

A local (to me) winery won a global competion with their pinot noir. Don't know if you can get better than that!

Try this link Worlds best Pinot Noir winery

.Another one, right down the road from me, is Willamette Valley Vineyards. They're rated as having a very good affordable pinot. I prefer cabernet, so I can't tell you about a good pinot

I love Oregon Pinot Noirs; can't recommend a particular one, as I keep trying different ones. Another region which has wonderful Pinots is the Russian River Valley in California. I've had some notable bottles, particularly Walter Hansel Pinot Noir - I prefer their North Slope Vineyard. If you can find it...yum!

Walter Hansel

Walter Hansel, 2012. Outstanding gift.

Russian River Valley Pinots are also a favorite of mine. Thanks for the recommendation on the Walter Hansel.

The Sean Minor I had last night was simply called 'Sean Minor Pinot Noir' (2013), and is a Sonoma Coast wine. At $20 a great bargain. There was also a 'Point North' that was pretty good but not in comparison to the other.

Another couple of favorites from R Stuart are 'Vignette' and 'Love, Oregon' if you can find those.

Pinot noir is my favorite wine. I fell in love with Russian River Valley ones when we visited there. Gary Farrell is a favorite, but it can be hard to find. Our local shop is still able to order a few bottles for us. It's about $50.

Thanks for the Oregon recs. I'm going to check those out.

I'm normally a Cabernet drinker but loved this so much we loaded up with a few bottles.

This is a big Pinot. Score 89 to 91, price $38 to $41.

Review...This Pinot has deep jammy notes and dark red roses, with a dense
toasted hazelnut spice, due to concentration at harvest and to the new oak. The palate is big and
velvety, with chocolate and toasted almonds, and plum jam. Round and savory tasting with only
minor supporting tannins, the 2014 Pinot is very drinkable for such a big wine.

Thanks everyone. I'm hitting a Yelp recommended wine shop this weekend. I'll bring this list with me.

Late to the suggestions, but the Willamette Valley and Russian River Valley suggestions are great. I was going to recommend Rochioli but they are now priced even higher. Twomey is OK and widely distributed and lower down South in Carneros, the Frank Family is nice.

We had a 2014 Elouan Oregon Pinot Noir with dinner the other night. We really liked it, but it may be a little heavier that the usual Pinot Noir for some. Around $20.

MacMurray Ranch is my favorite. Russian River around $22, Central Coast around $16. Also A to Z for an Oregon wine around $17.

Oh, I forgot about MacMurray Pinot! It was the first one I ever drank, immediately after seeing "Sideways". I'd never tasted Pinot, MacMurray's was the only one on the menu at the modest little restaurant where we had dinner after the movie. After all the accolades about Pinot Noir in the movie, my friends and I had a hankering! It was delicious. Side note: founded by Fred MacMurray.

Update.....so I shopped the different websites last night....some wines mentioned were not available to order so I decided to order the Vignette recommended by Outsideplaying. It was $30...but shipping was nearly $60! I thought my eyes were deceiving me....had I ordered more than one bottle? A case? No! So $90 for a $30 bottle.... Omg!

So today I went to a local wine shop.....the # 3 on Yelp....5 minutes away....(# 1 is 20 min away and parking is a bear). I just went with his recommendations...which incidentally, weren't the most expensive. Here's what I got:

Mark West Black 2015.....from Monterey. He said this is favorite....very smooth.

K Cellars Danube Plain 2011.....from Bulgaria! This is his second fave....bolder and stronger than the Mark West.

We'll see what the bf's reaction is. Maybe next year I'll hit the # 1 shop if they're still together!

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

Here's an interesting documentary on Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir: The Holy Grail of Wine

Wow, that shipping cost they would charge you is insane! I can't recall where you live, but that's a heck of a charge! I think the bottle here is around $50, so there does appear to be some mark-up, but it's fairly typical for our state to do that for some wines. Anyway, I'm glad you found someone who made a personal recommendation. That always helps and I'm sure they will be a huge hit. Any time someone gifts me with a bottle of wine they think I will enjoy is a true gift.

If you are still looking, I can recommend "A to Z Oregon Pinot Noir 2010". My BIL who is very interested in wines, gave this to me as a gift. I served it at book club last night and it was delicious.

LaCrema out of California is our favorite. There are variety of types around $20 and higher.

Muirwood 2013. This reviewer sums up my impression:

I am sitting here going through the list-- trying desperately to find ONE of those recommended that the Commonwealth of PA has graciously agreed to sell in its state-run liquor stores grrr... only a few are available.

I can get the Walter Hansel if I am willing to drive 45 min (I am not.. not this week) so that leaves me with the following options based on what the web site says is available:

A to Z ($19)

MacMurray Russian River (on sale $20)

Twomey Russian River 2010 and 2014 ($49)

Rochioli Russian River 2013 ($64)

One that was recommended by someone local is Sojourn Cellars Pinot Noir.

I will see what I can find actually in stock ...

We shared a bottle of A to Z 2012 at Thanksgiving dinner and it received many praises from wine drinkers. I will buy it again. My most recent find at Kroger for $12 is Mark West Black 2014. Perfect. We purchased 3 to share at Christmas dinner.

Meiomi is also a worthy choice.

Funkyart, please re-read my comments above. If you can find a store with a better-than-average wine stock (and they do exist here in PA), ask the clerks. They know their stock better than a bunch of people on the internet, and will probably have some great things that have not been mentioned here in this thread. It's just butting your head against the wall when you go searching out specific things when there are hundreds of other choices that will be equally pleasing.

I appreciate your point, Sushi.. but it depends on where you are. The specialty state stores usually do have staff who know the product better ... but in many of the stores, they are clerks-- not necessarily wine lovers. Add to that that even in the specialty stores, the stock here doesn't offer as many choices as the that in the stores closer to Phila. I wasn't going to go into the (insanely busy) store without having done research. I don't drink Pinot Noir so I have zero personal experience.

They may know what they have in stock, but I doubt they will have greater brands than already mentioned here.

Funky, ask about Cloudline.

Cloudline Pinot Noir

I've also had A to Z, McMurray (relation to Fred McMurray),Meiomi, and regular Mark West, not the Black. All good!

Oh, Funky, I am sorry that there are such wastelands. I do, however, think that chasing down one recommendation is a frustrating errand, and that there are probably other options equally palatable. I noticed in the local store this morning that some of the signs will carry one of the rating numbers (out of 100) from one or another ratings listings. That's another way to find something. I will say that for ordinary drinking, not a special gift, at a reasonable price point, there are many wines in general (at least the the California wines that I am most familiar with) that will be acceptable. (I claim next to zero knowledge of wines from other countries).

As for us, we go down to Delaware every couple of months, buy several assorted cases, run some other errands and have lunch, then break the law and return to PA. Noting that 95% of the cars in the parking lot have PA license plates, we are not alone.

Ha.. yes, we used to do Delaware runs too. It's just too far now (I am in the Harrisburg area). I did get your point, Sushi.. and I have gotten good recommendations at other times but you have to catch the right person on the right day. I wanted to walk in knowing what I was looking for.

I went to one of the specialty wine stores today-- I am so glad I did because I ran into a guy I grew up with and we talked for 45 min! What a wonderful surprise!! When we parted, I realized all three lines went all the way to the back of the very large store.. and wrapped around. It was chaos and going to be 20 min wait after making my selections. I put everything back and went to another little state store down the street. I has a much more limited selection but there was no way I was going to maintain any kind of holiday spirit if I stayed there!

I had a choice of a few-- the A to Z, one of the MacMurray's and Meiomi. I went with the Meiomi. When I checked out, the store clerk said it was my best choice in their store so I was pleased. Thanks to the guidance here, I was able to pick up the wine and my other liquor items and I was in/out (including parking) in less than 10 minutes!

I don't really drink but I think that bottle Justerrilynn posted is so pretty.

I had to come back and share that I gave the Meiomi to my brother's gf tonight-- and not only is it her favorite--- she bought me the same bottle!!

Thanks for the assist.. Joanie, this was your thread. I hope you made out as well with your selections!

While waiting for the kids to arrive to begin the Christmas festivities I'm relaxing with a glass of berry iced tea and checking in to GW.

I have to confess that I almost feel guilty sitting here in NJ where I can pick up wine and beer at my favorite 2 supermarkets plus multiple liquor stores - all just a few miles from my home. My town is actually 'dry' but there are dozens of stores all around my little Stepford. I do remember those PA State Store days - when you'd roam the aisles looking for a few special bottles and wondering why you didn't just hop the bridge to NJ.

This must be a big change for you Sushipup.

Maire

The Mark West Black didn't disappoint anyone. It's a great wine for dinner, dessert, and a mixed cocktail. I'll buy more.

The Cloudline hasn't been opened, yet. I will report back after we have a chance to enjoy it today with some garlic toast, pasta and meatballs.

DH says to tell you that he had Meiomi and he really likes it.