On the palate, this pinot is as soft and cuddly as its makers. It fills the mouth without being heavy, and gives lots of sweet cherry and plum fruit without losing its spice and woody flavors.

The finish isn’t going to break any distance records, but goes a lot further than you’d think its short Muppet legs would carry it – especially at this price!

I always figured that letters and numbers would be crappy sponsors to have. Sure, they’re well known, but they never seemed to have much money to kick down ("Sesame Street" never got off of public television, after all). I must be wrong, because it has to take some serious funding from the letter W to make a Russian River Valley pinot noir that can be sold for $10.

Cheers,
TSW

Editor’s Note: A foam puppet in a dark suit just arrived at the door of Wilder on Wine headquarters with a sternly written cease and desist order. It seems the Muppets referred to above live on "Fraggle Rock," not Castle Rock. Further, the nerf-lawyer let me know that Castle Rock Entertainment has made numerous films worthy of mocking, and pointed me toward “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” or “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” and away from the Fraggles he represents.

Who knew?

The Muppets never cease to amaze. They sing and dance, teach valuable lessons to our youth, and serve as a model of diversity by celebrating differences. They also spread themselves rather thinly across movies, CDs, books and TV shows such as "The Muppet Show" and "Sesame Street."

And now, the Muppet sect living on Castle Rock is adding to those accomplishments with this winery named after their home.

Clearly these fuzzy, friendly rock-dwellers aren’t letting their short stature and four-fingered hands impact their winemaking skills. Whether or not you feel it’s right to market wine with the same name as a kids’ television show, the inhabitants of Castle Rock have made an amazing pinot noir.

The color of this red is a deep ruby that lasts right to the edge and appears to glow when the light hits it. It’s beautiful, and likely used by the Castles as a light source when burrowing within their rock.

The nose is just what you’d expect from a subterranean farming community: root vegetables and earth are both there in a big way. While that may not sound tuberific to you, it works in this wine, especially when combined with nose-tingling spice (even cinnamon), plum, cherry, a little berry and a nice dose of oak.