Pinot Noir is most famous for being the key red grape in Burgundy, and also one of the main three grapes used in Champagne. It’s found a lot of success in the New World too, sometimes in the same style as Burgundy; and sometimes as a richer style. Interestingly, Pinot Noir is also the parent grape of Chardonnay, Aligoté, and Gamay; and the original ‘Pinot’ grape.
Pinot Noir is a relatively difficult grape to grow, especially in cool climates (early budding so susceptible for Spring frost, and also difficult to get ripe) – and yet it’s grown all over the world, which is a testament to how good it can be. We’re going to give a quick overview of the flavour and food matching for Pinot Noir, as well as covering some of the key regions: Burgundy, Germany, Italy, Oregon, California, Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Flavour and food pairing
Pinot Noir has thin skins, which results in pale-coloured wines and low to medium tannins. In good versions, the tannins are enough to give a good structure, but are generally softer and silkier than other red wines, and they can be felt on the tongue and roof of the mouth. Pinot Noir is a relatively sweet fruit, but the inclusion of stems in fermentation can give a herbaceous and savoury note. Aromatics are mostly red fruits (e.g. cherries, raspberries), but sometimes black fruits, and it can be floral and perfumed. The best versions generally have a little bit of new oak (20% - 30% is ideal for our tastes), and the fruit aromas tend to open up with a bit of age. From this ageing, you’ll also often get aromas of mushroom, clove, cinnamon and vanilla. The best examples of Pinot Noir perfectly balance vibrant fruit with earthiness, spice, minerality and preserve acidity with moderate alcohol – this makes it a wonderfully versatile wine to match with food.
Pinot Noir is the ultimate wine for duck, but it also goes very well with chicken, game, and as a red wine for chargrilled salmon. Some of the brighter versions, for example from Chile and California, go surprisingly well with duck and hoi sin sauce. In terms of vegetables, these warmer climate wines go well with roasted root vegetables like butternut squash, sweet potato, beetroot, carrots, parsnips etc. Earthier, savoury Pinots (e.g. many from Burgundy or a more complex NZ version) go really well with mushrooms and truffles. Pinot Noir also generally does a good job of standing up to herbs and spices, like juniper, thyme, and fennel. Given Pinot Noir’s versatility and affinity with meat and roasted vegetables, whilst being able to stand up to sweeter sauces, it’s the ideal wine for a Sunday roast or Christmas dinner.
Regions
Burgundy: Pinot Noir has been planted in Burgundy since the Middle Ages. The region is packed with some of the most expensive and renowned wines on Earth. If you can try a notably good Grand Cru, then they can be undoubtedly incredible. If your wallet prefers to avoid the Grand Cru and Premier Cru ones, and you want to go for a village wine, then go for a Chambolle village wine – the quality is one of the highest of all the communes.
· Cote de Nuits – these wines are characterised by intense aromatic earthiness and spiciness, dark, brooding complexity, savoury fleshiness and mushroom aromas (especially Nuit St Georges, which has a lot of black fruits) and minerality (especially Gevrey Chambertain, which has a deep colour and silky texture).
o Vosne-Romanée is one of the most lauded regions, as the wines from here have a particularly silky texture and feel weightless. The aromatics included plenty of spices like cinnamon and star anise.
o If you did want to try this, avoid La Grand Rue – it achieved Grand Cru status relatively recently (1992) and the quality seems to be lacking massively. La Romanée, on the other hand, is perhaps the most exciting although rare.
o Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) is arguably the most prized red Burgundy (with a price tag to match), made from extremely low yields, whole cluster fermentation (no destemming), natural winemaking methods, natural yeasts, and 100% new oak.
o If you want to try DRC but are put off by the price, try Cuvée Duvault-Blochet – it blends the leftover grapes from the grand cru (albeit the lower quality ones) but uses the same style of viticulture and winemaking as DRC, with grand cru grapes, for a fraction of the price (but still about £2k…)
o The (much cheaper) bottle below from Côte Chalonnaise was much more purple than other versions, smoother, jammier, and full of dark fruit like blackberry and plum. There was also a hint of spice from oak ageing.
· Cote de Beaune is characterised by the purity of red fruit, especially wines from Pommard and Corton, (although these are also typically more tannic and muscular than other wines from the region) and a metallic note of iron or sometimes iodine (especially wines from Beaune). Volnay has a softer body due to the limestone soils.
o The Beaune below has aromas of rose, strawberry, cherry, blackberry, mushroom, truffle, vanilla and a touch of cinnamon. It was delicate with short tannins.
Germany: Pinot Noir is the most planted black grape in the country, known as Spätburgunder. It’s been taken more seriously in recent years, with good earthiness – it’s notably savoury and stern. As you’d expect, those from the more northerly regions are lighter bodied, whilst those from southern regions are warmer and fruitier. The best regions are Ahr, Baden and Pfalz.
Italy: Alto Adige is perhaps the best area for Pinot Noir in Italy, usually known as Pinot Nero here. Grown at high altitude, age-worthy examples from this region worth looking out for. They are typically very light bodied with a pale colour, delicate aromas, and the trademark high Italian acidity.
Oregon: World-class Pinot Noir comes from Oregon, in a very similar style to Burgundy, most notably from the Willamette Valley. They are sometimes a bit richer than those from Burgundy, with high alcohol for Pinot (our example below is 14%). The standout feature of Oregon Pinot Noir is the spectacular aromatics, which often include a subtle pine needle note. The wine shown below had much more of a pale, aged colour than other Pinot Noirs, with lots of blackberry, cinnamon, and vanilla. It was incredibly velvety and smooth, whilst being fairly light-bodied.
California: As you can imagine, Californian Pinot Noir is quite different from Burgundy, with a richness you get from the warmer climate. The best examples are from the more coastal areas, which cool down the vineyards. Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley are particularly good. Sonoma Pinot Noir is ripe and effortless, lacking in tartness, and sometimes has a cola note. This version below from Sonoma was so silky with a great texture. It filled the mouth without being full-bodied. Packed with cherries, strawberries and raspberries – more red fruit than some of the other ones we’ve tried. It went incredibly well with our hoi sin duck pancakes.
Chile: Chile tends to make light bodied, highly perfumed varieties, which are improving in quality (along with most of Chile’s wines!). They tend to have delicate and floral aromatics.
South Africa: South African Pinot Noir wines are bigger boned, firmer, with smoky, liquorice, and umami aromatics. The best examples are from Elgin.
New Zealand: Pinot Noir is the most widely planted black grape in NZ by far. It’s characterised by ultra clean fruit and high acidity, with typical aromas of cherry, plum, game, spice, and chocolate. Skins here get thicker than in other regions to protect from the Sun’s UV rays, given the thinner Ozone layer – this means it has a notably darker colour than Burgundy versions. Wines here are generally fruit-led rather than savoury.
o Central Otago is our favourite region, wines here having long exposure to the Sun with cooler nights, and so have deeper flavours. Typically there are more black fruits, roasted fruits, raspberries, and a hint of black tea, coffee, and dried herbs. Central Otago wines are the most savoury and, being from the coolest region, tend to have highest acidity, finesse and complexity.
o Marlborough Pinot Noir is more perfumed and fruity, with cranberry and raspberry flavours.
o Martinborough sort of sits between the two, although some of the older wines from Martinborough can be more similar to Burgundy.
The example below, from Central Otago, was light in colour (but still youthful looking) and body. On the nose, there’s fresh raspberry, cherry, a touch of blackberry and dried oregano. A spiciness of clove, black pepper, and vanilla. Silky tannins, fresh acidity and good length.
Australia: The best Pinot Noir in Australia is typically from around Melbourne e.g. Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. It’s fuller bodied than Burgundy but still retains surprising delicateness. Whole cluster fermentation is particularly popular in the Yarra Valley (and Adelaide Hills), which enhance the aromatics. Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir manages to retain freshness well and generally produces the most age-worthy wines. Tasmania also makes some great Pinot Noir, most similar to the NZ style.
We hope that’s given you a good overview of Pinot Noir. We particularly love the styles of the US right now – the traditional, but incredibly well done versions from Oregon; as well as the newer, brighter, styles from California. So go and open a bottle – it’ll probably go well with your dinner!
Stay salty af,
Anika & Fleurie