Penchant for Perfect Pinot
I have been extolling the virtues of Zinfandel, because it is a good safe variety that is hard to find a bad example of. Pinot Noir on the other hand, is a difficult grape to grow, and a difficult wine to make. It is all too common to find poor examples of Pinot, and all too often at high prices. When it is done right Pinot Noir is a light red wine that is slightly tart, with ripe red fruit flavors, often described as cherries. It can have a heady aroma and an incredibly long after taste. When the conditions do not come together, it could have none of these.
I love Pinot Noir, I would go so far as to say it is my favorite grape variety. Of domestic Pinot Noir I tend to favor those from the regions around Santa Barbara, California, but Burgundy, France remains the home of the Pinots to beat. Burgundy is not an easy region to love, as any Burgundy lover will confess. The geography and geology changes every few feet making every vineyard and even portion of vineyard, different. At least this true for the better rated wines. Vineyards can have many owners, making the producer as important to know as the vineyard itself. Just for fun the weather is extremely variable, so vintage variation may be as drastic here as anywhere on earth. When vineyard, producer and vintage come together it is an exquisite marriage. When they don't, more often than not it is an expensive lesson.
This brings us back to sunny California. With less variables, especially in the weather, the Pinot Noir from California is a safer bet. There are still regional differences, almost as extreme as in Burgundy, but instead of being dozens of huge differences in a 20 miles stretch, the regions of California are spread out all over the State.
Most Pinot growing regions in the world are cool to start with, and the trick is to find a warm spot, it is just the opposite in California. One such cool spot is that region around Santa Barbara, especially the Santa Maria Valley. Sonoma is closer to the ocean than Napa Valley, and in spots is cooled by the morning fogs and prevailing breezes. I find that Napa tends to be too warm for Pinot, except in Carneros, a southern region that straddles both Napa and Sonoma and is cooled by its proximity to the San Francisco Bay. Lake County, further north than Sonoma or napa, is another area that has been successful for Pinot Noir.
Oregon is Pinot Noir country, and some great examples have been made there. It is more similar to Burgundy than California, in that the vintages can vary more widely. Willamette (ask any local, that rhymes with damn it) Valley is where you can expect to find most of the Pinot.
New Zealand is another part of the world that is turning heads with its Pinot Noir. Already producing some exceptional wines in places like Marlborough and Otago, New Zealand is poised to take the Pinot world by storm.
You may not realize that pinot Noir, along with its rarely mentioned cousin (another red wine grape) Pinot Meunier is blended with Chardonnay to make Champagne and most of the best Sparkling Wines in the world. That tart character of Pinot is exactly what you need for sparkling wine. They keep the sparkling wines from being red or pink by pressing the Pinot very carefully and letting any of the color from the skins taint the juice. Almost all Rosé style sparkling wine is made that color by adding a little regular Pinot Noir wine to the finished sparkling wine, for color and flavor.
The upshot of this particular ramble is that Pinot Noir is worth it. Be prepared to suffer the slings and arrows of exploration as you try new regions and producers, but be buoyed by the certainty that there are wines out there (and not all of them expensive) that are worth the hunt.
I love Pinot Noir, I would go so far as to say it is my favorite grape variety. Of domestic Pinot Noir I tend to favor those from the regions around Santa Barbara, California, but Burgundy, France remains the home of the Pinots to beat. Burgundy is not an easy region to love, as any Burgundy lover will confess. The geography and geology changes every few feet making every vineyard and even portion of vineyard, different. At least this true for the better rated wines. Vineyards can have many owners, making the producer as important to know as the vineyard itself. Just for fun the weather is extremely variable, so vintage variation may be as drastic here as anywhere on earth. When vineyard, producer and vintage come together it is an exquisite marriage. When they don't, more often than not it is an expensive lesson.
This brings us back to sunny California. With less variables, especially in the weather, the Pinot Noir from California is a safer bet. There are still regional differences, almost as extreme as in Burgundy, but instead of being dozens of huge differences in a 20 miles stretch, the regions of California are spread out all over the State.
Most Pinot growing regions in the world are cool to start with, and the trick is to find a warm spot, it is just the opposite in California. One such cool spot is that region around Santa Barbara, especially the Santa Maria Valley. Sonoma is closer to the ocean than Napa Valley, and in spots is cooled by the morning fogs and prevailing breezes. I find that Napa tends to be too warm for Pinot, except in Carneros, a southern region that straddles both Napa and Sonoma and is cooled by its proximity to the San Francisco Bay. Lake County, further north than Sonoma or napa, is another area that has been successful for Pinot Noir.
Oregon is Pinot Noir country, and some great examples have been made there. It is more similar to Burgundy than California, in that the vintages can vary more widely. Willamette (ask any local, that rhymes with damn it) Valley is where you can expect to find most of the Pinot.
New Zealand is another part of the world that is turning heads with its Pinot Noir. Already producing some exceptional wines in places like Marlborough and Otago, New Zealand is poised to take the Pinot world by storm.
You may not realize that pinot Noir, along with its rarely mentioned cousin (another red wine grape) Pinot Meunier is blended with Chardonnay to make Champagne and most of the best Sparkling Wines in the world. That tart character of Pinot is exactly what you need for sparkling wine. They keep the sparkling wines from being red or pink by pressing the Pinot very carefully and letting any of the color from the skins taint the juice. Almost all Rosé style sparkling wine is made that color by adding a little regular Pinot Noir wine to the finished sparkling wine, for color and flavor.
The upshot of this particular ramble is that Pinot Noir is worth it. Be prepared to suffer the slings and arrows of exploration as you try new regions and producers, but be buoyed by the certainty that there are wines out there (and not all of them expensive) that are worth the hunt.
1 Comments:
Great post...
In the same vein, I've come to understand that average quality / low cost Pinot doesn't even attain the same varietal character of the best Pinot Noir. Meaning a low-end Pinot probably looks nothing like a high-end Pinot.
Whereas less finicky grapes (e.g zin, syrah, cab) at least look, taste, breathe similarly at various price/quality points.
But the point remains, great Pinot is unbeatable.
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