Louis Max Bourgogne Pinot Noir Beaucharme Pinot Noir `09 $12.99 (not TJ's) unrateable

I don't think that wine producer Louis Max would approve of what we drank (I may try a different bottle from a different supplier to test my theory and then re-review)  Somewhere along the line, this bottle of  French Pinot Noir met with a nefarious character. I will give the bottler the benefit of doubt for now.  At first sip, there was a subtle burst of flavor and the finish was... water.

My first reaction:  "JPH, taste this!" (he didn't really want to put down his beer - but he obliged and was equally surprised).  I poured S. a glass.  She pulled a perplexed face.  I said, "I know, doesn't this taste like gatoraide?" This wateriness and anemic finish did not stop us from finishing the bottle, but we could never call this a pinot noir.  I am curious as to how a wine that others review as "deep, berry flavored, needs to aerate..." can be the same wine that I tasted; it was so light at the finish that I laughed at the thought of aerating it.  It would simply disappear!

This was S's garden as we walked along the terrace
smelling the Day Lilies, Orange Tree and Gardenia in bloom.  

With a late afternoon view like this,
who really cares about watered down wine?