Rickshaw Pinot Noir California Red Wine

Does a modest star rating mean you should keep walking? Not necessarily. 3 ratings put it at 3, which sits in the low band of red scores we track, though three ratings is a thin sample to read much into. The wine is a California Pinot Noir sold under the Rickshaw name, priced between $9.99 and $16.99 in our September 2026 checks.

Pinot Noir has thin skins, and the guides that describe it reach for red cherry, berry and plum, with a lighter color and less tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon, though site and ripeness can carry it from bright and delicate to dark and full. As for who makes it, Rickshaw says it started in California in 2010 and belongs to Foley Family Wines, drawing its fruit from certified sustainable vineyards around the state.

Rickshaw's own product page for the 2021 vintage gives specifics: the fruit comes from a mix of California's coastal cool-climate vineyards, mostly from the Sonoma Coast, with the vintage's appellation blend spanning Santa Barbara, Monterey and Clarksburg. It is entirely Pinot Noir, fermented in small open-top vessels and aged 11 months in a mix of stainless steel and French oak. The producer's page also cites a 90-point score from Wine Enthusiast for this vintage; that magazine's own site was not checked directly, so the score is reported as the producer states it, not independently confirmed.

Our call: a fair reach if coastal California Pinot Noir in the mid-teens is the brief; the producer's page is unusually specific about where the 2021 fruit grew and how it was raised. Pass if the crowd steers you; the three shoppers on our record average three out of five, among the lower readings we track, and the 90-point score beside it is the producer quoting its own press.

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