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While Pinot Noir can vary dramatically, the wine tends to be of light to medium body with an aroma reminiscent of black cherry, raspberry or currant. Generally, Pinot Noir is produced as a red wine, although Pinot Noir is used in the production of most Champagne and some rosé still wines, and even occasional " vin gris " white wines.
Originally produced in France, in recent years Pinot Noir has become a popular grape in wines from, amongst other places, California, New Zealand and Chile, with some of the best regarded coming from the Willamette Valley in Oregon and the Russian River Valley in California. As a rule, the better pinot noirs are grown in climates at the colder end of the spectrum for wine growing.
The Pinot GrisPinot Gris is a white wine grape of species vitis vinifera related to Pinot noir which goes by a lot of other names: Pinot Grigio (Italy) Pinot Beurot ( Loire Valley, France) Rulander (Austria and Germany, Romania, sweet) Grauburgunder or Grauer burgunder grape is a mutant white clone of Pinot Noir. It is a grape variety that mutates very easily.
In France, and indeed the world, the archetype for pinot noir is that grown in Burgundy wine. Here it produces great wines which can age very well in good years, developing floral flavours as it ages, often reaching its peak 15 or 20 years after the vintage. Many of the wines are produced in very small quantities and can be very expensive, and many of the cheaper examples are not very good and do not give an indication of what great Burgundy can be like.
In Jura départementJura is: A mountain chain on the French-Swiss border, see Jura mountains A French departement, see Jura (departement) A Swiss canton, see Canton of Jura A Scottish island, see Jura, Scotland A subterranean river, see Jura river Some people might also use, across the river valley from Burgundy the wines made from pinot noir are lighter.
In Champagne it is an important grape in the blend, although rarely used on its own. When it is it is labelled blanc de noir .
In Sancerre it is used to make red and rosé wines, much lighter in style that those of Burgundy, refreshing served chilled, especially in warmer years when they are less thin.
In AlsaceThe wine producing region of Alsace in France primarily produces white wines. Its wines, which have a strong Germanic influence, have the Appellation d'Origine Controlees Alsace AOC, Alsace Grand Cru AOC and Cremant d'Alsace AOC. It produces some of the w it makes a light rosé wine, the only red wine produced there.
In GermanyMany people think of Germany as a beer producing country, and the beers of Bavaria in particular are known very well internationally. However many parts of Germany are wine-producing areas, and due to the northerly location have produced wines quite unlik it is called Spätburgunder, and is now the most widely planted red grape. Historically much German wine produced from pinot noir was pale, often rosé like the red wines of Alsace. However recently, despite the northerly climate, darker, richer reds have been produced, often barrel ( barrique ) aged, in regions such as Pfalz and Ahr. These are rarely exported and are often very expensive in Germany for the better examples.
There is also a smaller-berried, lower yield variety called Frühburgunder which is grown in Franken , which can produce very good wines. It is thought to be a mutant clone of pinot noir.
Robert M. Parker, Jr. says in one of his books that German pinot noir tastes thin, like badly made Burgundy wine. While some examples may not be well made, many are, and are highly sought after.While it is the most common red grape in Germany, much of the Spätburgunder is used to produce Sekt, German sparkling wine rather than red wine.