Pinot Noir
Vintage image sourced on Black History Album
Pinot Noir is the Goldilocks of grapes. It needs conditions that are just right to make great wine. And it’s also somehow the fifth most planted red grape variety in the world. You’d think that fewer producers would want to mess with such a cruel mistress of a grape, but Pinot Noir wines, when they’re good, are just really, really good. Mesmerizingly good. This tasting focuses on some of the world’s best regions for still red Pinot Noir wines.
Stuff to know
Pinot Noir’s home is in Burgundy, France. You won’t often hear its name in Burgundy though. Vignerons in Burgundy just use the word “rouge” (red) to refer to the variety, since all red wines in Burgundy are made from Pinot Noir. Further, no other place in the world world is as thoroughly, intricately mapped as Burgundy. We can thank medieval monks for the origins of today’s complex system of appellations, which tell us that each parcel of distinct terroir is more important than the grapevines growing atop it. In Burgundy, a wine isn’t just a rouge, it’s a Vosne-Romanée or a Grands Echézeaux.
In other parts of the wine world, the words “Pinot Noir” will be clearly featured on labels. But of course, there are more exceptions, since there are always exceptions in wine. Pinot Noir goes by Pinot Nero in parts of Italy, Spätburgunder in Germany, Blauburgunder in Austria and northern Italy and a few other names in Croatia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. Some producers in these regions choose to use “Pinot Noir” to avoid confusion in export markets, so you can find wines labeled Spätburgunder being produced in the same region as others labeled Pinot Noir.
If there’s one thing that makes Pinot Noir wines less complicated, it’s that they’re usually made with 100% Pinot Noir grapes. This Goldilocks of a grape variety doesn’t play well with others. Pinot Noir wines tend to be on the subtle side, and they’re easily overwhelmed by other grape varieties when blended. And most winemakers who choose to take on the challenge of making great Pinot Noir want the distinctive characteristics of the place where the vines grew to shine through.
It’s worth noting that in some parts of the world, particularly Australia and New Zealand, screw caps are more common than corks for these wines. In others, like France and the United States, wines with screw caps are often seen as being cheaper or poorer quality. Please ignore that stereotype. It’s simply not true, and there are many excellent Pinot Noir wines bottled with screw caps.
Pinot Noir is also used in white and rosé sparkling wines around the world. Check out Champagne Essentials or Sparkling Wine Essentials to taste Pinot Noir in sparkling wines.
What to look for in this tasting
Pinot Noir wines aren’t known for having big structures, which means they’ll have much less tannin than Cabernet Sauvignons or Malbecs. These are wines whose tannins tend to feel soft, silky, velvety, even weightless. They’re quieter wines.
Pinot Noir can be quite savory, with flavors of dried leaves, mushrooms, wet slate, dried violets and smoke. And it can be sweet, with flavors of dried cranberries, ripe cherries, vanilla, cloves and cinnamon. More often than not, Pinot Noir wines are aromatic. These are wines you’re going to want to whiff for a while. Swirl the glass and stick your nose all the way in. It’s not pretentious, it’s sensual.
In cooler regions or vintages, Pinot Noir wines can sometimes be overly acidic and thin, and in warmer regions or vintages, they can sometimes be overly sweet and ripe, almost root beer-like. Pinot Noir really is like Goldilocks, and luckily, there are enough places in the world with the very specific climates and soils to make delicious Pinot Noir.
The wines
#1: Red Burgundy
Red Burgundy, AKA Bourgogne Rouge. When the French say Bourgogne Rouge, they are always referring to red wines made with Pinot Noir, which originated in Burgundy.
Unfortunately, Burgundy isn’t as simple as “Bourgogne Rouge.” Burgundy is the wine world’s most complex region. French wines are named by the place they’re from, and well, no place in France gets more specific in that naming than Burgundy.
There are 4 quality levels for all Red Burgundy wines, starting with Bourgogne Rouge, which refers generally to all red Burgundy wines and is the name of the regional appellation, meaning that the grapes in a bottle of “Bourgogne Rouge” can be from anywhere in the Burgundy region. These are the least expensive Red Burgundies. From there, quality levels go from Village, to Premier Cru, then Grand Cru, which are the most expensive.
It isn’t easy to remember which appellatons are which and what the names mean. Even for those of us who study these things in depth, it’s tough. When you layer on vintage variation and all of the different producers in Burgundy…it can feel overwhelming. All of this to say that you don’t need to get into that level of nerdiness if you don’t want to. Ask your local retailer to guide you to the right Red Burgundy for your Wineluck Club tasting based on what you want to spend.
What to ask for: Red Burgundy, and then expect to share your target spend
Alternative(s): Stick with any Red Burgundy from the Côte d’Or or Côte Chalonnaise
#2: American Pinot Noir
Americans have been growing Pinot Noir vines since the 1850s, long before Prohibition arrested wine industry growth in the states. Afterward, producers tried again, growing Pinot Noir in regions like Napa Valley, which proved to be a bit too toasty for the Goldilocks grape. As winemakers developed a deeper understanding of what Pinot Noir needed in the US and where they could find it, plantings grew all over in just-right regions like the Russian River Valley in Sonoma, the Sonoma Coast, Anderson Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County and Sta. Rita Hills in Santa Barbara.
And then in the 1960s, pioneering winemakers tried Oregon’s cool climate on for size. Oregon turned out have the kind of erratic, sometimes rainy, sometimes frosty weather that can ruin a vintage in the blink of an eye…or create some of the most intriguing Pinot Noirs the states have to offer. Today, Willamette Valley (as in “Willamette, dammit”) is a modern mecca for American Pinot Noir fans.
Pinot Noirs are made in states other than California and Oregon, but these two states produce the most and best-known Pinot Noir wines.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: Canadian Pinot Noir
#3: New Zealand Pinot Noir
New Zealand built its reputation on one-of-a-kind Sauvignon Blancs, but its Pinot Noirs have quickly given the country another claim to wine industry fame. In the world’s newest wine-producing country, Pinot Noir is the most-planted red grape.
And what a start it got in the country that gave us Middle Earth. Pinot Noir has an origin story that involves the most prestigious Burgundian vineyard, a rain boot and a rugby player. A likely combination.
The legend goes that a rugby player managed to smuggle a cutting from Domaine de la Romanée Conti’s vines out of Burgundy in his gumboot (Kiwi for rain boot). He made it out of France, but was detained in Auckland, where a customs agent confiscated the illegal cutting. But the agent, Malcolm Abel, was a grape grower himself, so he shepherded the cutting through quarantine until its release, after which he planted it in his own vineyard and even shared subsequent cuttings with a friend, Clive Paton, who created the now-famous Ata Rangi Pinot Noir wines. Paton shared his bounty with other Kiwi winemakers, and the “Gumboot” clone became part of New Zealand wine history.
As an island nation, no vineyard in New Zealand is more than 80 miles (130 km) from the ocean, which moderates temperatures and keeps things cool even when the sun shines bright. Pinot Noir loves a not-too-hot, not-too-cold situation, and has found a happy home in regions like Central Otago, Marlborough, Martinborough, North Canterbury, Nelson and Wairarapa.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: Stick with a New Zealand Pinot Noir
#4: Australian Pinot Noir
Australia is known for big, bold red wines, especially its Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Pinot Noir, by contrast, represents just a teensy little 3% of Australian vineyards. Pinot Noir’s preference for chilly but not-too-cool growing locations keeps Aussie plantings in spots with altitude or maritime influence, like in Tasmania, the Yarra Valley, Geelong, Gippsland, and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, and cooler parts of South Australia like Adelaide Hills.
Pinot Noir has been planted in Australia since the early 1800s, but not necessarily always in ideal growing locations. Much like in California, it took some time for Australian Pinot Noir to find its groove. And like New Zealand, Australia has very strict quarantine provisions for incoming plant material. No “Gumboot” Pinot Noir clones snuck onto the island continent, so it’s taken some time for desirable legal clones to make their way down under. Today though, there are top notch Pinot Noir clones planted in smart locations and the wine world is paying attention: Australian Pinot Noir is on the rise.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: Stick with an Australian Pinot Noir
#5: German Spätburgunder
Spätburgunder (”schpate-bur-gunder”) is the German name for Pinot Noir. However, many producers today choose to eschew the German word for the French “Pinot Noir,” since it’s far more internationally recognized, which helps boost sales. Raise your hand if you’ve skipped asking for a style of wine when its name looked too complicated to pronounce. We’ve all been there.
Germany, which has some of the world’s northernmost wine regions, is unsurprisingly best known for its white wines, especially Rieslings. But Germany also has regions with ideal locations for expressive Pinot Noir, AKA Spätburgunder. Burgundy may be Pinot Noir’s home, but the once-powerful Dukes of Burgundy controlled territories far east and north of today’s Côte d’Or, so it’s not that surprising that Germany has had its own Pinot Noir plantings since the 14th century. Great vines have always had a way of finding new homes.
As the world has warmed in recent years, German winegrowers have benefited from expanded opportunities to make world-class Pinot Noir. Today, Pinot Noir is Germany’s most-planted red grape variety and the resulting wines are some of the buzziest Pinot Noirs available.
What to ask for: Ask by style name
Alternatives: Austrian Blauburgunder or Pinot Noir, Alsace Pinot Noir
#6: Chilean Pinot Noir
French vines were first brought over to the world’s longest, thinnest country in the mid-1800’s, around the same time they were brought to California. But in California, winemakers started working out which locations were best for Pinot Noir after the end of Prohibition, whereas Chile really began exploring potential homes for Pinot Noir in the 1980s.
This meant that Chile started with plantings in warmer regions and developed a reputation for value Pinot Noir wines that could be great deals, just not necessarily of great quality. Recently, things are shifting, as winemakers explore cooler sites with ocean influences and higher elevations way up north in the Leyda Valley, Aconcagua Valley, Casablanca Valley and San Antonio Valley and all the way down, about 400 miles (650 km) south in Bío Bío and Malleco Valley.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: Argentinian Pinot Noir
Tasting tips
The eats
Pinot Noirs are light-bodied red wines, so they live in that unicorn space of being versatile enough to be enjoyed with fatty fish like salmon and tuna, meats like duck, chicken and pork or with vegetarian dishes like roasted squash, eggplants or mushrooms. Or turkey. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Pinot Noir wines are some of the best options for Thanksgiving and Christmas, assuming you celebrate with traditional American flavors, that is.
Personally, Pinot Noir wines with anything mushroom-y is my happy place. Double down on the umami and I’m all about it. My father-in-law makes a classic mushroom toast that would be ideal for this tasting, but I’m the kind of hostess who likes to have all the food ready beforehand so that I can be fully present with my guests, so I’d resort to a mushroom stew that could stay warm on the stove, or even a mushroom-based ramen with self-serve toppings.
My husband is Swedish and grew up foraging, so he knows his way around some wild mushrooms. I’m still a relative newbie in this part of the world, so I’ve settled for stocking up on the dried Karl-Johans and chanterelles when we can get them to make the kinds of broths that smell like hygge in a bowl.
The prep
It should be relatively easy to find these wines, though I’d recommend giving your guests at least two weeks depending on where you live. For example, it can be difficult to locate Australian Pinot Noir in some parts of the US, and I’ve also found that it’s not the easiest to get certain American producers’ Pinot Noirs here in Denmark.
There is a wide range of prices for all of these wines, so it’s up to you as the host to decide if you want to set a price range or let your guests determine what they’re each comfortable spending.
Pinot Noir wines are best with a bit of chill, so please encourage your guests to give their wines some pre-tasting fridge time, or have an ice bucket ready for a quick dunk to reach cellar temperature. If you’ve never walked down into a winemaker’s cellar and felt the chill and damp, just think about what it feels like on a brisk autumn day. A bottle that’s cool to the touch, that’s the goal here. Not too warm, not too cold. Goldilocks strikes again.
A note on the tasting order: The wines are listed in the order of which should be included first, so that even if there are just 4 wines in the tasting, you’ve got a well-rounded experience ahead. However, I’d suggest switching up the order in which you taste the wines, regardless of how many wines make it in the final cut, as follows:
Red Burgundy
German Spätburgunder
New Zealand Pinot Noir
Chilean Pinot Noir
Australian Pinot Noir
American Pinot Noir
