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What began as a simple pinot noir tasting turned into a lesson in world geography.

Upon returning home from my pinot-purchasing excursions, I was surprised to find that fully half of the bottles I bought — all widely available, all labeled pinot noir, all costing me less than $10 — came from unexpected places.

Silly me: I thought that when I was buying wines from wineries named Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, Turning Leaf, Redwood Creek and Pepperwood Grove, I was buying California wines. I mean, isn't the Mondavi name synonymous with California winemaking? Isn't Turning Leaf a product of E&J Gallo, California's largest winemaker? Don't Redwoods grow in California?

Yes, yes and yes. But, well ... no.

All of those wines came from another continent but were bottled and released by these very California-sounding labels. Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi and Redwood Creek turned to France for their juice — no, not the rolling vineyards of Burgundy, where pinot noir is king and fine finds can fetch hundreds of dollars a bottle. Rather, the wines come from the south of France, from grape-growing regions that don't have the prestige, or the high prices, of Burgundy. Turning Leaf found its pinot noir in Italy, while Pepperwood Grove turned to the Southern Hemisphere, importing its juice from Chile.

How'd this happen? Well, blame the impact from the movie "Sideways," at least in part. The Oscar-nominated film championed wines made from the pinot noir grape and triggered a massive thirst for California pinots that drove up the price of pinot noir juice throughout the state. The producers of bargain-priced pinots had to either pay the higher costs for California juice — and face the prospect of raising their own prices — or find cheaper alternatives abroad.

While the labels may be somewhat misleading at first glance, all of the wines are required to reveal the country of origin. So with the Redwood Creek, right underneath the phrase "Inspired by the Frei Bros. 100-year-old California winemaking tradition," the label also reads, "Product of France." On the front label of the Pepperwood Grove, there's no mention of Chile, unless you already know your world geography well enough to recognize that the "Valle Central" in tiny print refers to a grape-growing region in that country. "Product of Chile" appears on the back label.

The other four pinots offered no surprises. Cavit comes from Italy, Red Bicyclette from France, Rosemount from Australia and Smoking Loon from (ta-dah!) California.

I found wide variation in quality among these eight wines, despite their close proximity of price.

The two clear favorites were the top-ranked Pepperwood Grove 2006 (Chile) and the Smoking Loon 2006 (California). Both had pinot's trademark dried-cherry fruit flavors, were well-balanced between fruit and acidity and were just darn pleasant to drink. Both wines are bargains; the Pepperwood Grove, at $7.99 the second-cheapest wine in the lineup, is a downright steal.

The only other pinot from vintage 2006, the Redwood Creek (France), was the least impressive of the bunch, though also the least expensive. A 2004 pinot from Cavit, the Italian producer whose Riesling performed well in a comparative tasting in June, didn't fare so well, though I wonder whether a more recent vintage would have shown better.

All of the wines were purchased in chain supermarkets, meaning they have wide distribution and are made in decent (and in some cases, large) quantities.

So do some pinot noir exploration of your own — and remember to bring your World Atlas along with you.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2258 or mfisher@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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> Photos: Under $10 pinot noirs

The 'Sideways' effect

"Sideways," the Oscar nominated film about two friends played by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church on a wine-tasting California road trip, is credited with increasing the popularity of pinot noirs. According to the Nielsen Co.'s "Beverage Alcohol Annual Snapshot: A Review of 2006 ... What's Hot, and Not," dollar sales of pinot noir jumped 20.8 percent in 2006 compared to the previous year — a bigger increase than any other wine variety except Riesling (up 25.2 percent).