Noble Vines 667 Pinot Noir Red Wine, Monterey, California

Monterey County stretches along a valley that pulls cool air and fog off the bay far inland. That marine influence runs strongest in the north and eases toward the warmer country to the south, so one county name covers cool coastal ground and warmer southern valleys alike. Monterey is a labeling origin rather than one vineyard: it holds the Monterey AVA and other, narrower growing areas, and the specific one behind a bottle tells you more than the county on its own.

Pinot Noir is a thin-skinned red that category guides tie to red cherry, berry and plum, with lighter color and less tannin than Cabernet. In our checks as of August 12, 2026, the low end was $12.99. The wine, which averages 3.55 out of five across 11 scores, ranks near the bottom of the wines we track for how shoppers score them, well under the 4.71 median rating across the 483 rated wines.

In the same checks the high we saw was $17.99. As those category guides describe it, ripeness and site can carry the grape from bright and delicate to darker and fuller.

Noble Vines' own account fills that gap. The producer traces the 667 designation to a Dijon clone brought from Burgundy, France, and describes the resulting vines as forming "tight, compact clusters that generate deep color and more layers of tannins than any other Pinot Noirs previously grown in California," the producer's words. The producer ages the wine in French and American oak for a minimum of six months and lists the finished wine at 14.5 percent alcohol, a fuller-bodied reading for the style. Its own tasting notes point to black cherry, currant and vanilla toast on the nose, with boysenberry, lavender and currant on the palate, backed by what it calls a full, supple mouthfeel with medium tannins and a clean finish.

Our call: buy it if the producer's own account carries weight for you; Noble Vines names the Dijon clone behind the 667 number, states a minimum six months in French and American oak, and publishes the alcohol level and its own tasting notes for this specific bottle. Pass if the shopper record matters more: the 11 ratings on file put this Pinot Noir near the bottom of the wines we track, well under the 4.71 median, and an inexpensive price does not change that reading.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.