More so than most years, you can feel the change in the air. For the past three sunbaked West Coast months it’s been nothing but T-shirt, shorts, and sandals all day, every day. It was a summer for garden-hose misting stations, cold midday showers, and running the Utilitech oscillating three-speed fan around the clock.

Suddenly there’s a noticeable chill to the nights—the kind when hoodies become mandatory toward the end of happy hour. Get ready to move away from the Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc and reach for something that bridges the end of summer and the start of fall. Hello Pinot Noir, which has its roots in the clay soil of Burgundy, France, but has since been embraced by winemakers from Australia and Austria to Chile and California.
Here are four offerings to help you embrace the cooler nights ahead. And admit it—more so than most years, you’re kind of ready for a change.

Kim Crawford Pinot Noir

Sauvignon Blanc normally gets all the glowing praise at Kim Crawford on New Zealand’s famously scenic South Island, but Pinot Noir has established itself as the breakout bottle to watch. The Marlborough region’s cool nights make for the next best thing to slopes of Burgundy—or British Columbia—resulting in a wine with bright acidity that pops with juicy dark cherries, plump blackberries, and light oak. Lamb—while insanely delicious—is too predictable, so instead serve with an earthy portobello mushroom pasta or classic beef bourguignon. And don’t mention the Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, which already gets more than enough attention around the dinner table.

Meiomi Pinot Noir

Ahh, California—arguably the most magical of all the states in the U.S.A. It’s the home of Hollywood and Disneyland and the birthplace of the Beach Boys, the Byrds, and Black Flag. The Golden State boasts endless beaches, dramatic parkland (Yosemite!), and a sprawling wine region with over 800 cellars. But, with land crossings at the Peace Arch border still a no-go, unless you’re getting on a plane with a negative COVID-19 test in hand, you’re not going there any time soon.

California dreaming right about now? Transport yourself with Meiomi Pinot Noir, which gets big points for its accessibility. This is a bold, joyfully jammy wine bursting with notes of field-grown strawberries and falling-off-the-vine raspberries. Love wine, but don’t like the burn? Meiomi is your new best friend, going down like crushed-velour with whispers of freshly scraped vanilla beans and aromatic cedar. Given the price point, pure magic—kind of like California.

Inniskillin Okanagan Pinot Noir

As in past years, you had plans. Loading up on fresh Blazing Star and Elegant Lady peaches at roadside fruit stands. Getting a clear iPhone shot of Ogopogo in Okanagan Lake. And hitting the Inniskillin tasting room, praying to the Gods above that someone’s going to bust out a Texas mickey of Riesling Icewine. Instead, thanks to stumbling blocks like heatwaves, wildfires, and a complete addiction to Gangs of London, it was another staycation summer.

Wash away the guilt with Inniskillin Pinot Noir, a medium-bodied and mildly spiced triumph with subtle oak and fruit-forward washes of plump cranberries. Easy drinking and velvety, it’s a natural when dinner plans include firing up the barbecue for thyme-crusted pork tenderloin with a sour cherry reduction. Make sure that those cherries are from the Okanagan, which you neglected to visit this year. Again.

See Ya Later Ranch Pinot Noir

At this point in time, there’s nothing we’d love better than yelling “See Ya Later” on multiple fronts. See ya later COVID-19, face masks, and hand sanitizer that smells like pine-scented industrial rubbing alcohol. See Ya Later 2021, and don’t forget to take the horror show that was 2020 with you. And See Ya Later British Columbia forest fires, 38° B.C. summer days, and rolling evacuation alerts. But enough of all that—let’s focus on something positive.

Bold and pleasantly peppery, See Ya Later Ranch Pinot Noir offers dark-plum heaviness with a hint of cassis and smoky wisps of charred cedar. Consider See Ya Later Pinot Noir’s silky smoothness, and then factor in the $20 price tag, and you’ve got a great value wine that punches well above its weight class. Crack open a bottle, roll out a charcuterie board loaded with Spanish chorizo, French Camembert, and Greek Kalamata olives, and then say ‘“See ya later summer of 2021.” Fall is here—you can feel it in the air. And, more so than most years, that somehow seems like a relief.