Pinot Noir

A Comprehensive Guide to Pinot Noir Wine
By Alfred Ardis

In the world of wines, Pinot Noir is a top contender. This variety is striking for its flavor and ability to pair with virtually any type of food. Known as an ancient grape of France, Cistercian monks grew this fruit in their monasteries in Burgundy.

Regions of Origin

Pinot Noir comes from grapes grown in a variety of regions. France boasts the most vineyards with over 75,000 acres. The United States comes in at a close second. Germany, New Zealand, Italy, Australia, Chile, Argentina, and South Africa are also countries that grow these grapes. Dijon, France, is the most famous location that produces this wine.

Taste Details

Many connoisseurs consider Pinot Noir to be a fickle wine with a great flavor range. Both vintage and growing location have a significant impact on flavor.

– Grapes grown in France usually have a light flavor and color. People may describe this taste as having floral and sweet undertones.

– In Germany, the wine produced has an earthy flavor with touches of cherry and raspberry.

– Italian Pinot comes from vineyards located in this country’s cooler climate. Although these varieties still have a fruitiness, they also have other distinctive flavors such as clove, white pepper, and tobacco. Italians like to boast that their product has a higher alcohol content.

– The wine produced in California is bolder and fruitier. Vineyards offer interesting flavors such as black raspberry, black cherry, and caramel. In Oregon, the product tends to have a lighter color and a tart flavor.

– New Zealanders are proud of their spicy and rich grapes that create a strong wine. The Australian variety is similar to the New Zealand one; however, it tends to be a bit sweeter.

– South American wine resembles that of the product produced by the United States. However, it often has more of a floral undertone than a fruity one.

Growing Details

The grapes used to produce Pinot Noir are difficult to grow. They have thin skins, and they tend to ripen early in the season. Farmers must care for this fruit attentively to ensure that it thrives. It’s only with precise climate and patient tending that these grapes will grow well. For optimal growth, plants need cool temperatures, plenty of spacing between vines, and sandy soil. Plants grown in warm areas usually produce grapes that are milder in both flavor and color. A number of diseases can plague this fruit. This plant is also susceptible to point mutations. It’s typical to find vines with unique shoots that do not resemble any other ones existing on the same plant. A farmer might capitalize on this type of mutation by using it to propagate new plants.

Pinot Noir is commonly known by a variety of names. Other names include Franc Pineau, Salvagnin, Morillon, Pineau de Bourgoyne, and Auvernat. Different countries have different names for the wine.

Although the color of this product tends to be pale despite cool growing conditions, the flavor is anything but mild.

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Pinot Noir

The Guide to Pinot Noir Wine
By Maria Williams

Pinot Noir is a red wine grape that originated in Burgundy and it is one of the oldest wine spices planted in France. The name is derived from the French words pine and black, pine to describe tightly clustered grapes. Today, Pinot Noir grapes are all around the world. The first historic evidence is associated 2,000 years ago in the French region known as Pasco Robels – this was an ideal soil to produce tightly packed clusters. Some wine experts call it “heartbreak grape” because of the thin skinned grapes capable for early ripening with overwhelming flavour.

The thin skin of these delicate grapes requires diligent management as the balance of the wine can be easily destroyed by intervention. As one of the fines wines in the world, it is recognizable by cherry aroma mixed with strawberries. Soon after the wine ages it can bring the potential to develop “barnyard” aroma and savoury fleshiness with more fruit prominent and cleaner appearance.

The international success of the Pinot Noir as the most highly prized wine is typically evident during the late 1980`s and through the next couple of decades. The 1990`s showed an increase in the world production and sale in several wine growing regions of Australia, Austria, Canada and France. This wine is very fickle and can have quite a range of aromas, depending on the vintage and the earth where it`s grown. The major Pinot Noir produced in Burgundy is usually herbaceous with earthy aromas close to wet leaves. The wine in Germany tends to offer more sweet and fruit aromas which are quite different from Italian Pinot Noir where the climate is much cooler. Pinot Nero, as the Italians call it, tends to have more colour extraction and higher alcohol content.

Australians have identified Victoria and Tasmania as being cool enough for this wine. New Zealand is capable to produce the best Pinot outside Burgundy and certainly there are many fine examples of cooler regions in which the grape can develop interesting flavours. Often described as a difficult grape to deal with, wineries around the world are really passionate about its sensuality for the purpose of making wine. The popular image persist that this type od wine creates a long lasting impression in every person`s memory. The aroma is widely accepted as one of the most complex of all varieties starting with fruits enhanced with cinnamon and mushroom as common spiciness for identifying Pinot Noir. Most of the best Pinot Noirs are bottled under screw caps, which further highlights the fresh, clean fruit of these wines.

There is one component in which Pinot Noir seems naturally quite rich, 3-4 times higher compared to other varieties, especially when it is grown in chiller and more humid environments: resveratrol. While this may not affect the aspects of sensory enjoyment, it may draw the attention of health-conscious consumers.

Pinot Noir is not a simple wine. It is likely that it fascinates everyone by its greater complexity rich with dark fruit aromas and flavours.

If you are curious about how it tastes why don`t you take advantage and order a bottle of Pinot Noir wine from an online liquor store at extremely reasonable prices.

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