Pinot Noir Around the World

For a grape that's notoriously difficult to grow, Pinot Noir is produced in most major wine-producing countries. Although it's at its best in cool or moderate regions, Pinot Noir can be found in Spain, Portugal, South Africa, and Australia, to name just a few warmer climates. The most famous classical regions for the grape are Burgundy and Champagne, but it's also found in other European cool areas such as Alsace, Germany, and even England. Elsewhere in the world, Oregon and Central Otago are the most strongly associated with Pinot Noir but other areas are producing exceptional Pinot Noir, such as Yarra Yarra and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia, and Santa Barbara and Sonoma in California. Styles vary according to climate and winemaker's preferences, making Pinot Noir a harder grape to pin down than its reputation suggests.

I recently attended a tasting of Pinot Noir wines at Back Room Wines, which was followed by a blind tasting with my Diploma Study Group. Here are the areas I tasted wines from.

Burgundy, France

With its moderate climate, Burgundy is the northernmost limit for the production of quality red wine in Europe. (Pinot Noir is also important for the production of Champagne, which is further north but does not make red wine.) Some of the most famous and expensive red wines come from the Côte de Nuits, a series of villages including Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, and Vosne-Romanée. The wines are expensive because making red wine here is seriously difficult, because it's made in small quantities, and because there are people out there willing to spend too much money on wine.

Marsannay

Marsannay is the furthest north village in the Côte de Nuits, producing, uniquely for Burgundy, rosé from Pinot Noir. It also produces light, fruity, and attractive red wines, which can be extremely good value given the village's lack of fame.

Charles Audoin Les Longeroires 2011 ($38)

This wine didn't feel that light - there's a dark undertone to Burgundy's wines which can surprise. The wine had a nice, involved complexity, although it lacked subtlety: smoky raspberries, with black liquorice and a meaty, bacon nose, and a good, round mouthfeel. Substantial but slightly out of balance. ✪✪✪✪

Vosne-Romanée

Home to one of the most exclusive wineries in the world, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, and six Grand Cru vineyards, wines from Vosne-Romanée are regarded as some of, if not, the finest Pinot Noir in the world.

Domaine Michel Gros Vosne-Romanée Clos de la Fontaine 1995

This was quite a treat, brought along to our blind tasting by a member of my Diploma Study Group. The garnet colour immediately gave its age away, followed by extremely mature aromas on the nose of game, mushrooms, leather, earth, and dirt, with dried strawberries and cherries. The acidity on the palate was remarkably fresh, with pepper and liquorice spices still tingly, even if the primary red fruit aromas had faded. An outstanding wine come to the end of its life - so a great time to be able to taste it. ✪✪✪✪✪✪

Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy

The northernmost part of Italy is one of its most interesting. North of Lake Garda is Trentino-Alto Adige; the latter is mainly German-speaking, while Trentino is Italian. Many of the best wines come from high-altitude vineyards. Both Alto Adige and Trentino have a high proportion of DOC wines - 70% of Trentino's wines are labelled DOC.

Istituto Agrario di San Michele all'Adige Trentino Pinot Nero 2011 ($33)

This interesting, slightly unpredictable wine comes from an agricultural and vinicultural college. A nice smoky, fruity nose, with raspberries and red cherries. The tannins on the palate are quite firm, with a good, full, spicy mouthfeel. The wine is pleasingly rustic and just about in balance, with the fruits at the beginning and end of the mouthfeel and the acidity and tannins in the middle. ✪✪✪✪

Central Otago, New Zealand

The most southerly vineyards in the world are grown in New Zealand's only continental climate where daily and seasonal temperature variation add to the intensity of the wines. 75% of Central Otago's vines are Pinot Noir, which was only first planted in the 1980s. In such a short period, the area has gained quite a reputation for fruity, lush, deep-flavoured Pinot Noir.

Wild Earth Pinot Noir 2010 ($31)

A fruity, perfumed, upfront nose that's also gamey and meaty, even a bit stinky. On the palate, there is very good acidity, but the tannins dissipate too quickly. ✪✪✪

Casablanca, Chile

Chile's climate is generally warm, but at altitude and under the influence of the Humboldt Current from the Atlantic Ocean there is the potential for white grapes and cooler climate black grapes. Morning fog is a particularly cooling influence in the Casablanca Valley, the only area of Chile where more white grapes are planted than black.

Kingston Estate Alazan Pinot Noir 2011 ($33)

On ungrafted roots and granite hillside slopes, this was an interesting if rather big Pinot. The nose was fruity, meaty, and rather obvious, but the palate was more integrated and subtle, with pleasing acidity and gripping tannins. ✪✪✪

Oregon, USA

The history of winemaking in Oregon is recent. When David Lett of Eyrie Vineyards moved to Oregon in 1965 to pursue his dream of making Burgundy-style wines, he was told by his university professors at UC Davis that it was impossible to grow grapes there. Fifteen years later, it was his 1975 Pinot Noir that brought the world's attention to the state's wines. Now Pinot Noir dominates production to the extent that it accounts for over 60% of plantings, mostly in cool, damp Willamette Valley south of Portland.

J. Christopher Lumière Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir 2012 ($41)

The shallow, rocky, volcanic soils of the Eola-Amity Hills AVA in Willamette Valley result in small berries and concentrated wines. Cooling ocean breezes also prolong the growing season. From one of Oregon's leading producers, this wine has beautiful red fruits on the nose, with a subtle but enticing earthiness and smokiness. On the palate, the tannins are grainy and involved, with subtle spices and some meatiness. ✪✪✪✪✪

Adelsheim Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2012 ($32)

Adelsheim are one of my favourite Oregon producers, but I was a bit disappointed with this wine, finding it too upfront and warm. Ripe strawberries and raspberries dominate, with a creamy, chocolate element, given some depth with pepper and liquorice. Just too fruity, with the oak not sufficiently integrated. ✪✪✪

Santa Barbara, USA

A semi-tropical climate two hours north of Los Angeles may not seem the best place to make Pinot Noir, but that's what Santa Barbara and its surrounding AVAs have been doing since its emergence in the 1980s. The Pacific Ocean has a cooling influence, bringing fog into the hills. Santa Rita Hills is the coolest AVA in California; here, wind can be a problem and the best sites are those that are sheltered.

Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir 2013 ($22)

The entry-level Pinot from Santa Barbara's most famous winery, this is a good-value wine with a nice, if not particularly deep, character. A quite oaky nose at first, with smoke, toast, vanilla, and cloves, is given some grace with cherry blossoms and strawberry and raspberry aromas. Likewise on the palate, with extra flavours of cola, pepper, and liquorice. ✪✪✪✪

Fiddlehead Fiddlestix - 728 Santa Rita Hills 2010 ($38)

A very inviting wine, with ripe, round strawberries. Full-bodied for a Pinot Noir, its ripe red fruit flavours, oak, and tannins are nevertheless well-balanced and integrated. ✪✪✪✪

One thing in common all these Pinots had was price: it's very hard to get a quality Pinot Noir for less than $30. There are other shared characteristics, such as red fruits and a certain meatiness. However, there was a great variety of styles showing one of the reasons why Pinot Noir is so popular with producers - it reflects terroir, expressing the nature of the land, climate, and winemaker. From light and subtle to full and fruity, there are many faces to Pinot Noir.

This is my first blog to feature ratings using my new ✪ to ✪✪✪✪✪✪✪ system, explained here.