2004 Cambria Santa Maria Valley PINOT NOIR "Julia's Vineyard" (Santa Barbara County, California)

This ubiquitous wine seems to be available in every wine shop and supermarket I've been in over the last several months, so my curiosity finally got the best of me. Too bad, as my reaction is "eh." Medium ruby color with a tad of amber at the rim. Nose has lots of sappy, overripe cherries, and a cola/Dr. Pepper component, but it also has some sharp, green stemmy smells and a tad of eucalyptus. Likewise, the flavors are ripe and earthy, but with a pervasive, bitter stemminess, particularly in the mid-palate and through the finish. The wine would have been pretty good otherwise. I'm not sure where the stemminess comes from, as the winery's winemaking notes for this wine state that all the grapes were de-stemmed. 78. Was about $16 on sale at Randall's on Weslayan.