Pinot Noir

Grape Vari­ety: Pinot Noir

Geog­ra­phy: Home is Bur­gundy, France. Also pro­duced in Cal­i­for­nia, Aus­tralia, New Zealand, Ger­many and East­ern Europe.

Viti­cul­ture: Will not tol­er­ate heat well. Thrives in a mod­er­ately cool cli­mate. Sen­si­tive to both wet and dry conditions.

Varietal/Blend: Used in most red Bur­gundy wines. Also in the bulk of Cham­pagne pro­duc­tion (white and pink).

Fla­vor & Char­ac­ter: Pre­dom­i­nantly rasp­berry and straw­berry, with a hint of game.

Vini­fi­ca­tion: For red wines, fer­mented at tem­per­a­tures up to 30 ºC. Good Bur­gundies are always matured in new oak.

Style: Varies from com­plex and silky to plain and insipid.

Body, Dry/Sweet: Varies from medium to light bod­ied wines.

Notes: Does not travel well. Out­side Bur­gundy, with a few excep­tions, lacks color and depth. There are some suc­cess­ful Cal­i­forn­ian Pinot Noirs. Also known as Spät­bur­gun­der in Ger­many and Pinot Nero in Italy.