Grape Variety: Pinot Noir

Colour: Red

Its flavours, they’re just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and… ancient on the planet (Sideways)

If you want to read about the technical side of Pinot Noir consult a wine dictionary. This is an impressionistic take on the most inspirational pluperfect primadonnish varietal in the world, one that elicits furious exhibitions of Pinotphilia and Pinotfrustration in equal measure.

Burgundy was the winiest wine, the central, essential, and typical wine, the soul and greatest common measure of all the kindly wines of the earth.

In the vineyard Pinot (so called allegedly because the bunches resemble pine cones) is sensitive to light exposure, cropping levels (it must be low yielding), soil types and pruning techniques. In the winery it is sensitive to fermentation methods, yeast strains and is highly reflective of its terroir with different regions producing very different wines. Its thin skin makes it highly susceptible to bunch rot and other fungal diseases. The vines themselves are prone to downy mildew, leaf roll, and fanleaf. These complications have given the grape the reputation of being difficult to grow: Jancis Robinson calls Pinot a “minx of a vine” and André Tchelistcheff declred that “God made Cabernet Sauvignon whereas the devil made Pinot Noir.”

However, Pinot wines are among the most popular in the world. Joel Fleischman of Vanity Fair describes Pinot noir as “the most romantic of wines, with so voluptuous a perfume, so sweet an edge, and so powerful a punch that, like falling in love, they make the blood run hot and the soul wax embarrassingly poetic.”

Pinot Noir is found in the following countries and regions:

France – Burgundy (its spiritual home), Loire (Sancerre red and rose, in particular), Jura (surprisingly fine), Alsace (limpid reds and roses), Champagne
Germany – superb Spaetburgunders often fermented and aged in new wood
Italy – a small pocket of growers in Alto-Adige and Friuli, Oltrepò Pavese. Italy is generally too warm for the consistent expression of Pinot
Spain – Somontano - a handful of wineries give it a whirl
Australia – Yarra Valley, Geelong, Mornington, Tasmania, Margaret River, Great Southern
New Zealand – Martinborough, Marlborough, Waipara, Central Otago
California – Santa Barbara, Sonoma, Santa Rita Hills
Oregon – Willamette Valley (Burgundina style wines)
Chile - light, herbal style of Pinot
South Africa - flourishes in Walker Bay

Pinot Noir ranges from the traditional pale, cranberry, garnet (Burgundy) colour versus more modern extractive styles in the new world wherein the wines are dark red, almost plumskin-hued. It may exhibit the most amazing array of primary aromas of violets, freesia, roses… cherries, raspberries, redcurrants, cranberries to beetroot, plum, black cherry; clove, cinnamon, liquorice. Texturally: velvety, silky, satin are good descriptors. Time in the bottle lends secondary and tertiary aromas… grilled mushrooms, truffle, undergrowth, farmyard…

Our Pinots
Givry vieilles vignes from Domaine Parize is a bonny floral Pinot for drinking young and perhaps lightly chilled. An aromatic mixture – red fruits such as bilberries and raspberry followed by lavender and fresh mint – enchants the nose. Lovely silky texture, clean, lip-smacking finish. Try with cow’s milk cheese (such as époisses), oeufs en meurette, and grilled veal chop or rabbit fricassée. The Givry Rouge “Champ Nalot” undergoes maceration and fermentation for 12 days in stainless steel and is then aged in one-year-old oak barrels. A richly perfumed Pinot Noir exhibiting ripe cherry smells, strawberry and liquorice and undertones of menthol. The extra weight in the wine allows it to tackle feathered game: pheasant and partridge are choice companions. And finally, the Givry Rouge 1er cru “Grandes Vignes” from the heart of the appellation, a gorgeous wine that carries its new oak with aplomb. Delicious primary aromas of spiced cherries, berries and rhubarb, notes of clove and cigarbox – lovely refinement. Worth a sojourn in a carafe to allow the aromatic layers to compose themselves. A fine wine that will grace a table with goose or turkey.

The terroir of Mercurey produces fine red wine. Bruno Lorenzon is one of the most highly regarded growers in the Cote Chalonnaise.The Champs Martin is a well-knit specimen with a spicy nose with fruit components and a palate laden with cranberry, pomegranate, cherry and raspberry. Cuvée Carline is a cru within a cru and Bruno is justifiably proud of his vin de garde which ranks amongst the best in the appellation. This Pinot has some rich liquorice notes and hints of truffle and woodsmoke. On the palate the Carline is rich and juicy with a core of sweet red fruit, plumskins, and crisp tannins.
The Saint-Aubin Rouge Derrière Chez Edouard is a mouthful and a mouthful. Limpid colour, nose of cinnamon, musk and cherry and mingled flavours of strawberry, mocha and earth.

Blair Pethel took over Domaine Dublere in 2003. Organic viticulture and sympathetic winemaking brings out the best aromas in these wines. Volnay, admired for its delicacy, its sap, and its bouquet, has always been thought of as the most feminine of burgundies. Though certain of its terroirs modify this judgment with more vigorous and muscular versions, it truly does stand out among the red wines of the Côte de Beaune like the lipstick imprint of a kiss… The colour varies from bright ruby to a light garnet. Its aromas are of violet, gooseberry, cherry, and - with age - spices, game and cooked prune. It has an immediate appeal which, added to a slight natural precocity, means it can be fully open while still relatively young. The attack is fresh, the finish is warm.

The Pommard 1er cru is the deep, dark red with mauve highlights which caused Victor Hugo to speak of it as “night in combat with day.” Its aromas are redolent of blackberry, bilberry, or gooseberry, cherry pit and ripe plum. At full maturity, it will move towards leather, chocolate and pepper.It needs to be given time to open up to its fullest extent and to display its mouth-filling texture, its firm but delicate structure, its fruit-filled mouth, and its chewy tannins, which by then will be properly smoothed down.

The beautifully expressive Bourgogne Rouge Bedeau, Domaine de Chassorney teases as it pleases. The nose is very fine, almost restrained and yet certainly and pertinently Pinot Noir. It is reassuringly pale in colour and aromatically there are suggestions of stonefruit, flint and red berry and secondary notes of seasoned wood. The palate is lively and sapid, the fruit complemented and held in check by the stony elegance of the minerality. Overall the Bedeau exhibits regal poise and drive, this fluid Pinot sliding vibrantly over the tongue rather than spreading its soft, sweet charms to all corners of the mouth.

Heresztyn wines are relatively plush. The Morey-Saint-Denis 1er cru Les Millandes is one of the best we have tasted. From 65-year-old vines and low yields (37hl/ha) this vivid ruby-red wine has a stunning bouquet of myrtle, blackberries, sloes and bramble not to mention floral notes of violets and jasmine, a sustained palate with exquisite finesse and length. One to age and to drink with guinea fowl with cabbage, rabbit in mustard sauce and cheese (Epoisses, Munster, Livarot etc.) Clos Saint-Denis is situated in Morey-Saint-Denis between Clos de la Roche and Clos des Lambrays. The vineyard is planted on Liassic and Triassic limestone, a terrain that allows the roots of the vines to delve deep for mineral nourishment. Heresztyn’s wine is delightful; the subtle weaving of fragrances (black fruits, gingerbread, prunes, musk) hints at a grand cru with nuance rather than sheer power, a point reinforced by the tender fruity palate, aromatic, pretty, oozing finesse. The tannins, nevertheless, remind you that this is a true vin de garde. Gird your best loin of venison or saddle up your meanest hare.

Philippe Pacalet is an iconoclast; he prefers his Pinots to be linear and sans maquillage. The Gevrey-Chambertin is from limestone-rich, organically farmed vines and aged for sixteen months on the lees. It is fresh, fragrant and mineral with musky red and black fruits. The 1er cru Belair has greater roundness and depth and an almost salty edge. Terrific length. The Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru is a delight and ticks all the boxes one might expect from this appellation being generous, elegant and rich with seductive fragrances reminiscent of amber, rose, violet, mignonette and fur. The Ruchottes-Chambertin has fine mineral precision and exotic notes of wild flowers, red berries and sandalwood. Pacalet is wont to describe some of his wines as “Cistercian”, characterised by monkish austerity and restraint! Tasting across the range of the reds you will discern some common features; they share this luminous purity and are beautifully aromatic as well as being light and graceful, rarely tannic, and never buried in new oak. Burg-yumdy

The wines from Domaine Bart come straight to the point. Starting with Marsannay Les Finottes we have an engaging little wine that “plays the flute rather than the trumpet” as the saying goes. Fruity and forward it conveys a delicious fruit medley of morello cherries, strawberries and rhubarb with a bit of pruney development.  Les Champs Salomon, a healthy Marsannay with sweet currant, black cherry and saturated plum fruit; conveys also notes of cinnamon, ginger and candied oranges. On the mid-palate there are more stone, straw and hay aspects interspersed with spices. Clive Coates, in his article on Best-Value Red Burgundy Producers mentions Marsannay as the source for good medium-structured, unextracted Pinot Noir and cites Bart as one of the growers to look out for.
The Bonnes-Mares, a grand cru with the bones to last, from average age 40 year old vines and matured in new oak barrels and bottled without filtration or fining, is a grand wine revealing ripe aromas of brown spice, smoke, mint, menthol and earth. Dense and spicy it issues forth promises of raspberries, exotic spice, caraway and sous-bois. Try with Charollais beef, rich stews, game birds,

The house of Philipponnat in Champagne majors in Pinot Noir which dominates the vintage wine and also the celebrated vineyard of Clos des Goisses. The Clos des Goisses originates from just 5.5 hectares of walled, very steep, pure chalk slope facing south above the river Marne in Mareuil-sur-Ay on the southern flank of the Montagne de Reims. The temperature here is generally 1.5 deg C higher than in the surrounding area, and the vines, low-yielding on these shallow soils, usually ripen a full week ahead of neighbouring vines (yet another reminder that there is no essential virtue in late picking).
The grape blend is about two-thirds Pinot Noir to one third Chardonnay. Up to thirty per cent of the wine is made in old oak barrels and malolactic fermentation is deliberately suppressed - which helps to explain why such a relatively old wine tastes so fresh. It also tastes extremely dense and interesting, with clear terroir-driven mineral character and certain creaminess as well. The intense 1999 unveils a nose of firm pears amidst a background of toasty aromas (almost cocoa bean) whilst concentrated citrus forms the backbone for other flavours of toast, biscuit, pear, and yellow apple to bloom from the glass

Bruno Gottardi is regarded as the master of Pinot Noir in northern Italy. In 1986 he bought Sarnheimhof, a winery located in the village of Mazzon, in the wine-growing region of Unterland, the heart of Sud-Tirol’s best Blauburgunder area or Blauburgunder-Himmel as they say locally. Having replanted the vineyard, training the vines on wires, he built a new winery, and in 1995 produced his first vintage.
These are impressively grown-up Pinots. The “basic” Blauburgunder is very much the expression of vintage. The fruit is heady and jammy, reminiscent of sweet plums and blackberries, but there is a backbone that keeps you returning to it. The reserve version is glorious, that ineffable Pinot mixture of enticing primary fruit (violets, red and black cherries) and the secondary whiffs of tobacco and truffle.

In Friuli the Pinot Nero from Le Due Terre is truly Burgundian in style, with lovely scents of red fruit, rose petals and potpourri spice. Both velvety and steely it is balanced, clean and long – Pinot with poise and concentration.

New Zealand is the home of world class Pinot. Beautifully crafted wines from Waipara in the north Canterbury region of the South Island. The charismatic twinkling Danny Schuster is the godfather of Pinot Noir. Twenty-five years ago he planted this variety when all around were still floundering with Muller-Thurgau. This was a long-term project – to bring the vineyards to maturity in order to produce quality wines that perfectly exemplified their terroir. Viticulture was naturally organic – no chemicals used whatsoever in the vineyard. The light touch continues in the winery – no pre-fermentation macerations here (“I’m not making marmalade here”, explains Danny) The ruby-hued Twin Vineyards Pinot Noir, matured in seasoned French oak casks, is lighter in style with aromatic raspberry blossom flavours and a delicate palate of red and orange fruits. The grapes are hand harvested, 90% are destemmed and 10% added whole into open fermentation vats to enhance suppleness and aromatic quality. Warm fermentation and hand plunging for 15-20 days, is followed by ageing in Tronçais barriques for a period of ten months.  The Omihi Hills from steeply sloped east-west facing vineyards has the greater structure and strong earthy notes. Based on a selection of the best fruit selected from the Omihi vineyard in Waipara this wine is from unirrigated low-yielding 20+ year old vines matured 15 months in French oak barriques (30% new) and bottled without fining or filtration. Generous, sweet-fruited and savoury with deep plum, berry and spice flavours.

Clos Pinot Noir is made from hand-harvested grapes in Marlborough. Following a three-week maceration in stainless steel tanks, the wine is fermented in small half-tonne open fermenters with gentle hand plunging to enhance optimum colour and tannin extraction and subsequently matured in French barrels with only 30 % new oak and a light filtration prior to bottling. The style again is French; the primary fruit is suggestive of mocha and red berries, there’s fruit concentration and roundness and delightfully harmonious tannins. It has texture and contours as they might say in France.

Felton Road effectively put Central Otago on the map as far as world class Pinot was concerned. Central Otago is New Zealand’s only wine region with a continental climate rather than a maritime one. This brings the risk of frosts but has the benefit of low rainfall and high sunshine hours. Of the five distinct microclimates so far identified in Central Otago, Bannockburn, with its gentle north facing slopes and deep loess soils seems well suited to the production of complex Pinot Noir. Viticulture makes extensive use of handwork and is heavily influenced by organic practice. The canopies use the Vertical Shoot Position trellis system with all pruning, positioning, shoot thinning, leaf plucking and fruit thinning performed carefully by hand. Cover crops are used to supply a natural biodiversity in the vineyard which aids vine balance as well as helping control disease and pests. The use of natural manure obtained from organic sources aids the “gentle touch” approach to the vines. Harvesting is by hand starting around the beginning of April and each block is harvested and vinified separately. The wines tend to have a deep ruby colour and a nose of sweet fruit and smoky herbs gives way to a classic “Bannockburn” palate: sweet cherries, spice, dried herbs and a hint of smoke. The concentration does not distract from its transparency allowing the full subtleties to be enjoyed with a long and complex finish

Pinot Noir thrives at Sokol Blosser in Oregon and the exceptional red (volcanic) jory soils of the Dundee Hills provide a good home. The vines range up to 30 years old and careful hand-sorting of fruit ensures that only perfectly ripe fruit makes it to the fermentation stage. Winemaker Russ Rosner uses an original technique for producing full-flavoured wines allowing for a post-fermentation soak of up to three weeks resulting in soft, supple tannins and a more complex wine. The wine is then aged in French oak barrels for approximately sixteen months followed by a further year in bottle. Aromas and flavours of black cherry, liquorice and mocha, smooth and supple, long and elegant.  This fragrant wine would be pleasant lightly chilled and served with salmon, pork or mushroom risotto. The Estate Pinot Noir is a formidable wine, made from a mixture of old vineyard blocks and young vines and low yields. The wine is fermented in large open top fermenters punched down three times daily and receives the same post-fermentation maceration as the Dundee Hills. It is 100% barrel-aged (60% new, 40% once used French oak from Allier, Bertranges and Vosges oak) and is unfined and unfiltered. The fruit is rich and heady with thick black cherry and blackberry flavours and a hint of secondary earth and truffle character.