Pinot Noir
Renowned for being very hard to grow, Pinot Noir is worth the effort and the reason for some of the best wines in existence – including Champagne! Predominantly made to produce reds, some of the most celebrated examples can be found in Burgundy, Germany, Western Australia, New Zealand and the USA, with South American winemakers getting in on the action in recent years too. It tends to be a lighter style of red with a complex mix of flavours, and conditions must be just right for it to come to life. As well as being a key ingredient in the traditional blend of Champagne (alongside Meunier and Chardonnay), Pinot Noir is also a popular grape for rosé wines, such as Sancerre and of course Rosé Champagne. It may be a high maintenance variety to grow, but winemakers absolutely love it!
Pinot Noir Tasting Notes
Strawberry
Mushroom
Raspberry
Cherry
Wet Leaves
When you’re tucking into a good Pinot Noir, you’ll get a lot of smooth red fruit flavours (strawberry, raspberry and cherry) with an earthy, smoky edge. Many Pinot Noirs are extremely elegant and complicated, and that’s why in some regions you can spend a small fortune on a good bottle. Pinot Noirs from hotter climates in the USA tend to have jammy fruit flavours, losing some of the more subtle earthy flavours you’d pick up in a French one. Notes of wet leaf and mushroom develop with age, and occasionally you’ll find toast and vanilla in oak aged examples.
Pinot Noir Wine Style
Light and Juicy Red Wine
Light Full-BodiedPinot Noir tends to be light in colour and the grapes tend to be thin-skinned, meaning that tannins tend to be fairly low compared to other red varieties. It’s a very fussy grape that, unlike more robust varieties, won’t ripen at all in cold temperatures. It also doesn’t like it too hot, so the balance of cool to moderate climate needs to be just right for it to thrive. Generally speaking, this is a delicately flavoured red wine that always has a lighter body.
Wine Regions
France
Germany
New Zealand
USA
France is known for its Pinot Noir production, with the classic region being Burgundy. Throughout this famous wine region, you’ll find that Pinot Noir from each village has different flavours and characteristics, really demonstrating how sensitive and reactive this variety is. Germany is also a huge producer of Pinot Noir, and they tend to be lighter in body and more perfumed than their French counterparts. New World examples are fuller in body with more intense red fruit flavours and fewer savoury nuances, as a result of the warmer climate. This also applies to any you may see produced in Oregon and California, Western Australia or New Zealand’s Martinborough and Otago.
What Food Goes with Pinot Noir?
Pinot Noir is great with game such as tender guineafowl or crispy duck, although it will also work very well with fish and salmon dishes. For the cheese enthusiasts out there, try it with a creamy soft cheese such as Brie and you won’t be disappointed! If we’re talking veggie cuisine, the earthy nuance of a classic French Pinot Noir lends itself perfectly to mushroom dishes. As food and wine pairings go, it’s one of the best!
