Pinot Purgatory

I am caught in Pinot Purgatory. Having tasted what was possibly the best wine I've ever had (Belle Pente's Pinot Noir), it's been a never ending search, always reaching, never finding another quite as good. Can you hear my soul wail at it despairs at being separated from the Divine One forever? Where are you, excellent Pinot Noir? Where? Where? Where?...(her voice trailing off into a whisper, Barb's pale visage sinks backward into a dense fog. End scene).

I've picked up a few bottles recently and here's my completely subjective opinion. All of these wines are available from a well-stocked LCBO (which means if you're from Midland, you'll have to go to Barrie. Quel Suprise.).

Le Clos Jordanne Pinot Noir 2007
This wine is supposedly some of the very best, award winning Pinot Noir Ontario has to offer. I had high hopes. They were dashed, or rather slowly deflated like air being let out of a balloon. I tried this wine 3 times to be sure. IMO, it was not worth the $40 I paid for it.
Darkish colour, very perfumey smelling, like walking into the florist shop. The smell I liked.
Taste: alcohol burn, strawberry, mouth puckery raw peas. Verging on the edge of bitter. Ok, not great, I expected better.

Andrew Rich 2007 Pinot Noir Wilamette Valley Cuvee B
I found this Oregon Pinot Noir in the California section of the Barrie liquor store. I'm sure Oregon doesn't mind being considered part of California, right? Oregon is like California's very stylish hat. If you protest, write the LCBO and tell them to give Oregon its own dang section!!!
Colour: very, very light and super clear. Unbelievably clear. It looked like someone ran a Photoshop filter over it to make it appear clear and sharp.
Nose: lush, ripe strawberries from the garden, fresh and mossy smelling
Taste: super-smooth---UNBELIEVABLY smooth; very fresh strawberry; soft, ripe camembert; creme brulee. Gorgeous. Not the orgasmathon experience I had with Belle Pente's offering, but still, really, really good.

Cave Spring Pinot Noir 2008
I had high hopes for this next offering. Cave Springs makes the most excellent Riesling evah, so it was my hope that their Pinot Noir was equally as good. They didn't disappoint me.
Colour: dark!
Nose: Rose for sure, and maybe a bit of cocoa?
Taste: If the Oregon Pinot Noir was pretty, this wine is sexy. Intense flavour, like fresh, crushed raspberries. There's a bit of minerality there. Nice and smooth going down, no scrape across your tongue bitterness. I think this has the distinction of being the nicest Ontario Pinot Noir I've had so far. Not break the bank either; I think it was around $17.

Final assessment: there's a good, an even gooder and a forgetter. Still searching for that holy grail Pinot Noir though. I may have to sashay over to Oregon to get it. Yes, sashaying is my primary method of transportation.

I'll leave you with this Kate Bush video, which is eerie, because this is EXACTLY the dance I do Saturday nights whilst wandering the moors, looking for that delicious, elusive, perfect Pinot Noir. In fact, if you exchange the words 'Kathy' for 'Barb, and 'Heathcliff' for 'Pinot Noir', you have a song that precisely describes my condition. It's like Kate Bush used a time machine to travel into the future, spied on me, then travelled back to her own time and wrote this song.