We confess to being skeptical when we first heard about Crossbarn 2021 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. Need a summer red for fish? Check. Need a summer red for spicy cold salads? Check. Need a wine that plays well with burgers or steak? Check. Need a summer red to sip on the back porch as the sun sets and the fireflies come out to do their darting dance? Check.

That would be a red that seems too good to be true. So we got our hands on some of this alleged miracle wine and put it to the test. (Spoiler alert: It passed.)

Roughly 20 years ago, the wine-soaked, bittersweet buddy movie Sideways nearly wrecked California Pinot Noir. On one hand, hordes of moviegoers began drinking California Pinot. And at least half a horde were convinced by Paul Giamatti’s character Miles that the wines occupied the apex of American winemaking. Pretty soon, every pizza joint in the country offered an otherwise unremarkable Pinot Noir. Many of these wines were made from bulk juice pressed from warm climate vineyards.

On the other hand, the widespread interest drove prices even higher for really good California Pinot Noir — the kind that entranced Miles in the movie. Truly great California Pinot Noir is made by passionate and exacting winemakers like Paul Hobbs. Such wines start at $80 for the most modest and go up from there. Those are wines out of our reach as casual summer quaffers.

Putting the lauded Crossbarn to the test

But Crossbarn 2021 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (crossbarn.com) is another creature entirely. Crossbarn is a side project for Paul Hobbs, and suggested retail for this Pinot Noir is $40. Honestly, we can pick it up discounted at around $31 if we commit to a half case. The grapes are sourced from estate vineyards in the Sonoma Coast AVA, which is the cool and foggy part of Sonoma near the ocean. The luscious fruit-forward wine is fermented with some stems (about 10%) and aged in French oak (only 5% new) for nine months.

We’ve been devouring Pacific Northwest cherries for a couple of weeks now, and we were struck that the aroma of dark cherries snaked out of the bottle when we cracked the seal on the screw top. But even a few sips told us that this was no one-note Pinot Noir. Layer on layer of flavors revealed themselves. Lavender and mint were the principal supporting notes, with a hint of beach roses right behind. The acidity is perfectly balanced.

So how did it fare with different foods? At the top of this post we show a boursin omelet and mustardy French salad (very Bear, season 2 episode 7). The wine tangled beautifully with the intense herbs and garlic of the boursin, while the acidity cut through the tangy salad dressing. Photo 2 is a deconstructed salade niçoise with grilled yellowfin tuna. The herbaceousness of the wine made the tuna seem even meatier while the secondary notes harmonized beautifully with the fresh tomato. Yum! Photo 3 is a burger. Specifically, it’s a ‶Cured″ burger with smoky bacon ground into the beef. Here the full mouth of fruit bounced off the beef with great effect.

Ultimately, as the wine took on air, its silky structure came to the fore as a sipping wine. Be sure to open one bottle more than you think you’ll drink for dinner. This is a wine for dessert and easy summer philosophizing under the night sky.