My best advice on choosing wine is simply, "
Drink what you love and love what you drink."
Don't drink wine because others tell you it is great. That goes for scores from Parker, or advice from guys that own wineries in Sonoma County. If you find a reviewer or wine store owner that rates wines that agree with your palate, then follow them.
Aside from our own wines, the ones we tend to buy and drink are from the Rhone and Languedoc - value for dollar just unbeatable. We buy wines from
Kermit Lynch in Berkeley at the $15-25 range all day long, they are wonderful.
Another word on the price difference between wines (or Pinots to the OP's point). At the high end, our inputs are very expensive. Premium Grapes cost between $5K and $8K per ton - a ton produces between 50-60 cases - or just about $9 per bottle on the averages, for just grapes, not including processing, barrels, packaging, time, et al. Our corks cost nearly $1 each. So our wines are very expensive, but like other luxury brand products, the margins are quite healthy. There is limited supply, and that is valued by some purchasers.
Again, the bottom line is what you like to drink. I'm drinking one of my 2010 Pinot Noirs right now, and I'm loving it.