Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir - $11.99

Wine Details

Price: $11.99
Producer: Cycles Gladiator
Region: California
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Container Size: 750 ML
Flavors: cherry, chocolate, citrus, cranberry, gunflint, raspberry, tart cherry
  • Award Winning
  • Red Wine
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Product Description

  • A touch of sweet wood emerges as a hint of truffle glides just out of reach. Sweet and smooth, like velvet in the mouth, this wine is perfectly balanced.

Expert Ratings

Ratings   Vintage Source Flavors
Tastings - 88 Details: Garnet with a red brick cast. Cranberry, cherry, custard and gunflint aromas. A sot, silky entry leads to a very fruity medium body chocolate covered raspberry and tart cherry flavors and a tangy sweet citrus accented fade. A fun, flavorful sipper. 2006 Tastings cherry, chocolate, citrus, cranberry, gunflint, raspberry, tart cherry
Tastings - 84 Details: Garnet. Plum and tomato aromas. Smooth supple with savory tomato blackberry skin and spice flavors. Crisp tannic finish with a touch of peppery alcohol. 2005 Tastings blackberry, peppery, plum, spice, tomato
CGCW - 85 Details: While it may be a little less than fully forthcoming and lacking a bit in keen focus, this solid and well-extracted wine teases with glimmers of ripe, black cherry fruit. It dries and draws back at the finish, however, and ultimately fails to convince that it has the center to keep in going for the two or three years of aging that its toughness demands. 2005 CGCW black cherry
Tastings - 88 Details: Deep ruby black color. Black cherry cola, dark chocolate and mint aromas. Supple entry leads to a dry-yet-fruity medium-to-full body of chocolate covered cherry, orange, and cigar box spiciness. Finishes with a crisp nutty, berry jam, cedar and spice fade. A seamless easy drinking crowd pleaser. 2005 Tastings

Food Pairings

Category Pairing
Cheese Sharp Cheddar, Feta, Goat Cheese, Swiss, Brie, Gouda
Red Meat Curried Beef, Grilled Flank Steak, Hamburgers, Curried Pork, Pork w/Fruit Sauce, Roast Pork Tenderloin w/Sage, Curried Lamb, Sausage
Pasta & Grains Pasta with Creamy Mushroom Sauces, Pasta with Truffles
Poultry & Eggs Roast Chicken with Herbs, Roast Turkey, Roast Duck
Vegetables Beets, Beans, White, Mushrooms
Pasta & Grains (Grilled) Tofu
Vegetables Tomato, Vegetable Gratin or Stew
Fish or Shellfish Seared Ahi Tuna
Sauces Red Wine Sauce
Herbs & Spices Anise, Fennel Seed, Tarragon, Basil, Cinnamon, Mint, Pepper (black, white, green), Rosemary

Awards and Accolades

  Name Vintage
Award Winner Bronze - 2007 Decanter World Wine Awards 2006

Wine Terms

Name Value
Pinot Noir (pee noh nwahr)—A tricky grape to grow, Pinot Noir makes some of the best wines in the world. The prototype wine is red Burgundy from France but Oregon, California, New Zealand, and parts of Australia also produce good Pinot Noir. The wine is lighter in color than Cabernet or Merlot with relatively high alcohol, medium-to-high acidity, and medium-to-low tannin. Its flavors and aromas can be very fruity or earthy and woodsy, depending on how it is grown. It is rarely blended with other grapes.
United States Wineries exist in all fifty states, but the most predominant (and best) wine comes from Northern California, Oregon, and Washington State, with New York gaining a foothold in the industry. American wines make up about 75% of all wine sales in the US. The appellation system uses the term AVA (American Viticultural Area) to determine where wines were produced, but grape varieties can be planted anywhere in the country. American wineries generally use varietal labeling, and government regulations require that the variety on the label must make up at least 75% of the blend (in Oregon it’s 90%). The words reserve, special selection, private reserve, classic, and so on have no legal definition in the US. Some wineries use these terms to indicate their better wines; others use the words as a marketing tool to move lower quality wines off the shelf.
California California produces the majority of wine made in the United States. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir dominate the wine production in California, but many other varietials thrive in the California climate. Many fine wines are produced in California using Mediterranean grapes.