Pinot Noir from Finland. Great to avoid.

Does the monopoly buyers want to buy spoofed stuff? Do they just like bad wine or are their taste buds calibrated to crap? I sincerely hope it is not the other obvious notion.

Let's look at these two recent new products just introduced here in Finland. They were obviously an attempt to respond to the voices of growing PN-audience. PN has to be juice from heavens because of such a scarcity. There is a sole retailer selling off-trade wine and it is state-run enterprise. Therefore it is no surprise that the suits remember their citizens have an appetite for substitute products (e.g. flour for bark, coffee to chicory). Our history is written to alternate from tyranny to famine to depression.

Someone is still living in the wartime I suppose. Why else would they present these products?

First one's description is only in Finnish but I'll translate it for my nonnative audience.It is described to be a light, supple yet rich in nuances. Aroma characteristics can be described as "hapokkaan marjainen" which if understood correctly in the context of the other characteristics means more or less like this: Raspberries and some strawberries dipped in acid finished with a dollop of spices. Why does this bother me? Well spices but only fermented and aged in steel then straight to bottles. But here comes the more worrying news. Alcohol at 13%, acids at 5,7g/l in tartaric, residual sugar 7g/l and extract upped to whopping 37g/l . Sounds so manipulated winemaking as possible. It screams it! Why the only Italian PN they sell here be spoofed? And why do they buy Italian PN, well now they are searching for the future release a good quality PN from Spain which is what Spaniards are known for internationally or not.

The second product they are offering to the fans of PN comes from Germany. Great! Spätburgunder is great! I have a huge appetite for stuff from the better producers which there are sadly only handful but in growing thankfully! I've never heard of this producer, but what strikes me is the description of the vinification this time. The vintage is 2009. Today is 25th February so we would have to go 17-18 months to participate to the picking. They say this did age 15 months in french oak barrels from which 70% new and after that 12 months of bottle aging before release. What? Can you really trust the descriptions if you can say whatever you like in there? I highly doubt it saw even french oak or maybe in powder form. And I just checked they have the same descriptions in Swedish so it cannot be miswritten.

I have not tried either of these two wines. I believe it was money well spent.