What Is Pinot Noir Wine
Pinot Noir. You’ve drank the wine, heard of the wine, seen the wine but what is Pinot Noir? Let’s get into it!
Pinot Noir Basics
Pronounced: pee-no na-wahr
Origins: bourgogne | Burgundy
Tannin: Medium Low
Acidity: Medium High
Age-ability: Yes. 2-18 years depending on the style.
Serving temperature: Served chilled (48-63 °F | 12 - 16 °C) Too warm and it can start to taste too smoky and earthy, too cold and you’re going to lose the berry, black cherry and plum flavours.
Introduction to Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is Burgundy’s most noble grape. It’s among the most elegant wines to come out of France and one of the most highly prized wines in the world. Today however, Pinot Noir grapes are grown all over, from California, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and the south of England. These are known as new world Pinot Noir’s, whilst Pinot Noir from Burgundy is known as old world.
Pinot Noir is a difficult grape to get right. It’s fickle. Growing the right Pinot Noir and making wine from it is a laborious task. It’s one wine i tend to avoid when looking for something cheaper, given cheap Pinot Noir tastes, well, bad. But when someone gets it right. My god. Pinot Noir that's been made properly tends to taste, as the wine snobs of the world might say, sublime.
Pinot Noir blends
As you may know, wine grapes are often blended with other grape varieties to balance the wine. If you don’t know, allow me to quickly explain.
Wine grapes can have a lot of great characteristics, however, they also have their downfalls. So, creating a single grape variety wine, although when done right is amazing, is often difficult to achieve that “faultless” status. One grapes downfall may be another grapes strength, so often, wineries will blend a variety of grapes to create the ultimate balance.
Take Bordeaux for example. Bordeaux is a wine region in France that is known for its Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grape red wine blends. One of my favourite wines. Cabernet Sauvignon is a rich, meaty grape, but tends to be overly tannic. Merlot on the other hand, is more of a lighter and fruitier grape, but tends to be a bit flat in terms of long lasting flavour. Blending them together gives a rich fruity grape that isn't too tannic. They balance each other out perfectly.
All that being said, does a grape with such rich history like the Pinot Noir have any well known blends? The answer is yes. Although a Pinot Noir blend tends to be a rarity, it still happens. Mainly, you would see blends with just a touch of Shiraz to balance the Pinot Noir. But there's one blend that is massively successful and well known. That blend is Champagne.
Champagne is a blend of many grapes, but the three main grape varieties are Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay.
6 Pinot Noir facts
It’s one of the oldest grapes in the world. Pinot noir has been around for at least 1000 years before Cabernet Sauvignon was widely planted.
The Romans loved Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir is one of the most ancient winemaking grapes in the world that has still survived. When the Romans invaded most of Europe they spread their love for wine and Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir prefers cool climates. Part of the difficulty in growing Pinot Noir is that they have thin skins which can be damaged easily. They also grow in a tight bunch, meaning fungi and rot can grow comfortably between the tight humid spaces between the grapes, making them susceptible for disease. Because of this, it means the grape does not survive well in hot climates.
Hot climates can cook the subtle flavours inside the thin skinned grape. Which is why Pinot Noir’s are normally made in countries or areas with cooler climates. Ones with hotter climates like Australia, Chile, California and Spain normally create lower quality Pinot Noir’s. (Which doesn't mean they still cant make great Pinot Noir’s, it just means they have to put more effort it)
The father of Pinot. Pinot Grigio, Pinot Blanc and Pinot gris have identical DNA to Pinot Noir. Just with a colour mutation.
Burgundy Pinot Noir is highly sought after. The Pinot Noir’s of Burgundy are revered as the best and are the most sought after. Not just in the Pinot Noir category either, they are some of the most sought after wines worldwide. In 2013 12 bottles of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti were sold at auction for $476,280. The most ever paid for a Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir means “Pine Black”. Bunches of Pinot Noir grapes resemble pine cones, and the ‘Noir’ comes from the deep purple colour.
Flavour profile
Pinot Noir is one of the most fragrant red grapes in the world. With fruit forward, red berry characteristics such as strawberries, cherries and raspberries.
Spice and earthy layers are also notable in Pinot Noir’s. Such as Cinnamon and clove.
When overripe Pinot Noir wines can taste jammy. When matured in the bottle, Pinot Noir develops more of a silky texture with a leathery, game-like profile. Often with light earthy notes such as truffle and mushrooms.
Pinot Noir Food Pairing
Pinot Noir is a very food friendly red wine. It pairs well with a majority of foods such as;
Pork, poultry, beef. bacon, cheese, chocolate, fish, lamb and mushrooms.