Our take

Mirassou Pinot Noir California Red Wine

GSW Score86/ 100

Shoppers really like it. A mechanical score from 3 shopper ratings on the store listing, checked Aug 12, 2026. It sits in the top 57% of the 514 wines we have scored, measured against the shelf on Sep 16, 2026. How we score

Style
Red wine
Size
750 ml
Grape
Pinot Noir
Region
California
Shelf barcode
0085000012277
Mirassou Pinot Noir California Red Wine bottle
Vendor listing image · stored in the Grocery Store Wine image archive

Our take

What we make of this bottle

The name says nothing about the number that stands out most here: at its cheapest, this is among the least expensive reds we track. It is a California Pinot Noir. Across our September 2026 checks it sold for as little as $10.99 and as much as $15.99, depending on the store.

3 shoppers have rated it, a small crowd to draw much from. Their average is 4.67 out of five. Mirassou Wines is the confirmed producer behind this label, detailed below.

Mirassou is a Modesto, California winery that describes itself, and is credited by wine guides, as among America's first winemakers to work with the Pinot Noir grape, with a history the company dates back more than 160 years. The producer's tech sheet for its Pinot Noir, written for an earlier vintage than what is likely on shelf now, lists 13.9 percent alcohol and a pH of 3.72, and describes a light-bodied wine of ripe red and black cherry, raspberry, strawberry jam and pomegranate, with a hint of oak and vanilla. The winemaking notes describe a night harvest and a 24-hour cold soak before fermentation, then draining and pressing the wine before fermentation finished to keep it bright, followed by a second fermentation that softens the texture. Because our capture is tied to an earlier vintage than the one currently on shelf, treat the alcohol and acidity figures as representative of the house style rather than a confirmed match to this exact bottle.

Our call: a fair pick for a shopper who wants an inexpensive California Pinot Noir from a producer with real Pinot Noir pedigree; Mirassou is a confirmed, 160-year Modesto winery that credits itself among America's first Pinot Noir producers, and its cheapest tag lands among the least expensive reds we track. Pass if the shopper crowd is your guide first; the ratings on record here are still a small crowd to draw much from, and our tech-sheet detail comes from an earlier vintage than what's likely on the shelf now.

More from the desk.

Related bottles with a written overview and a public evidence file.

The prices we checked

Dated store checks, not a promise about your store.

The regular price can vary by store and date.

Research status

What we are still checking

Our overview above draws on the dated store feed, shopper ratings, our region and grape research, and any sourced producer facts. We are still working to confirm the current release, the full producer record, and the bottle itself, and we update this page as we learn more.

Region guideCalifornia

A little background helps this bottle make sense.

Getting to know California.

California on the label is useful provenance but weak detail about place. For these wines, sourcing disclosure, blend construction and house-style consistency carry more decision value than a generic climate paragraph.

The place

What the name means

A state-level appellation, broader than an individual American Viticultural Area. It permits a multi-region blend and does not by itself identify one climate or soil.

Weather

How grapes grow here

The state spans cool maritime zones and hot inland valleys. A California designation alone does not reveal which conditions shaped the fruit.

Soil

What lies under the vines

At state scale, sourcing and house-style construction matter more than any single soil story.

How large the region is

Reusable question
Which counties or AVAs supplied the blend, and did that mix change by release?

Places within the region

Resolution limit
County, AVA and vineyard claims begin only when the release names them.
Grape guidePinot Noir

The grape name gives context. It is not a review of this bottle.

Getting to know Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir is a red grape with relatively thin skins. It is used for still red wine and as one of the main grapes in many traditional-method sparkling wines.

Category guide

What to expect in the glass

Regional category guides commonly describe red cherry, berry and plum, with lighter color and less tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon. Site and ripeness can shift it from bright and delicate to darker and fuller.

Sources: New Zealand Winegrowers; Napa Valley Vintners. Checked Aug 10, 2026. See all 105 Pinot Noir wines we cover →

Where this information comes from

Store listing
Price, package, product identifier, and shopper rating. Checked Aug 10, 2026.
Barcode
The shelf barcode shown here is computed from the store product identifier. It has not been checked against a bottle.
Method
Every price, rating and fact here is a dated observation. How we check.

Report a correction or bottle mismatch.