Uncork the secrets of Pinot Noir! Explore its unique growing challenges, historical journey across continents, and learn what makes this red wine so irresistible.

Pinot Noir is a finicky, temperamental, high-maintenance grape: It thrives in cooler regions and likes mineral and well-drained soils, but growers must be careful about the amount of sunlight the grapes get. See, Pinot Noir is thin-skinned, and too much sun can over-ripen and sometimes burn the berry. Like other wine grapes, it dislikes excessive rainfall[i]. Too much moisture makes it susceptible to rot and disease.

Winemakers need patience with this varietal. It’s the goldilocks grape: climate should be temperate but on the cooler side, canopy management must be precise, soil needs specific acidity and minerality, slopes are best, but orientation should ensure it doesn’t get too much sunlight. What a pain!

And yet, Pinot Noir wines are very popular and winemakers who craft it are always very proud. Why is that? Let’s dive in!

Pinot Noir’s Rich History

Pinot Noir is a very old grape rooted in Burgundian tradition. Its origin is unclear, but some reports from the 1st century of our Current Era describe grapes matching it in the region. Scientists speculate that it evolved naturally from domesticated local wild grapes. I support that claim.

A different theory, however, places the origin of Pinot Noir in northern Africa. People claim it traveled with the Romans when they conquered Gaul in 52 BCE[ii]. Most evidence suggests this theory is wrong, but I wanted to include it because it’s true that Romans took grapes with them when they went around a-conquering.

Whichever the case, the first written record of a grape with the Pinot Noir name dates to the 14^th century. In an edict, Philip II the Bold[iii] called Pinot Noir called it a Plant Fin[iv] in an ordinance instructing farmers to only plant this red grape[v] in their Burgundian lands. If winemakers in the region want to put Burgundy[vi] on the label of their red wines, they must make them with Pinot Noir. It’s the law.

Pinot Noir Travels

Cistercian monks likely carried these fine plants with them to Germany and Austria during the Middle Ages. Around the same time, Pinot Noir found a new home in Spain. Italy was a late adopter. People only introduced the grape there in the 19^th century and it adapted well in the north.

French wines went to New World countries in different waves. Huguenot refugees likely took vines with them when they traveled to the United Stated, South Africa, and Australia in the 17^th century. A century later, Jefferson imported vines (and wines) to the U.S., and newly independent Latin American counties turned to the French to re-invigorate their stagnant wine industries. Follow this link for an article I wrote about the history of wine in Chile, from vines brought over by Spanish colonizers to republican entrepreneurships and modern-day industrialization and trends. Give it a read, I think you’ll like it!

With time, ang through trial and error, winemakers in the New World found great plots for growing Pinot Noir. Think Yarra in Australia, Willamette in Oregon, or Russian River in California. We also grow great Pinot south of the Equator, like in the Rio Negro region in the Argentinian Patagonia, or coastal Casablanca in Chile.

Speaking of which…

Pinot Noir in Chile

Pinot Noir didn’t come to Chile with French ambassadors in the 1800s. In fact, we only began planting the grape in the 1960s, in the Colchagua region, in the slopes of the Andes mountains. One can hardly imagine Chilean wine without mentioning the Andes.

You can still find Pinot Noir in Colchagua, but in subsequent decades, winemakers have found better climates for the grape, particularly in Casablanca and its neighbor San Antonio[vii], both near the coast. One can hardly imagine Chilean wine without mentioning the coast.

There are other Chilean regions with a proven record for producing good Pinot Noirs, mostly in the south. Bio Bio is a great example, and a few wineries are also using the grape in Itata. Now, don’t get it twisted, you can find Pinot Noir grapes in most wine regions. Good bottles of Pinot are easily found in places other than the ones mentioned. After all, finding cook spots higher-up in the mountains or near cool ocean breezes is not particularly hard in Chile.

Clones and Selection

Listen. I write these articles to keep wine approachable, and therefore I stir away from wine complexities. With Pinot Noir, we have complexities. But let’s keep it simple. These fussy berries have been around for nearly two thousand years. Natural mutations are expected. I’m talking about things like color mutations, as in Pinot Blanc or Pinot Gris[viii].

Human manipulation through the years is also expected. Growers have been selecting desirable vines to cross for millennia, and more recently—in the 20^th century—scientists began the formal clonal selection process. Therefore, Pinot Noir has thousands of clones. We also have clones for other varietals, but because Pinot Noir is the sensitive one (not a survivor, like Cabernet Sauvignon), we hear about them more.

Growers engage in clone selection to adapt the vines to specific plots of land, but they also influence the flavor and other organoleptic qualities of the wine. We’re talking about that next!

What to Expect from Your Pinot Noir

Well, that depends on what clone[ix] the winemakers are using, so I’m focusing on general characteristics.

Pinot Noir is a lighter body red wine with a lovely ruby color and soft refined tannins. It has an elegant floral quality, with beautiful red fruits and a hint of earthiness to round up the nose.

Because Pinot Noir grows best in colder climates, high acidity is common, which means these wines age well. We often think high tannins are crucial for lengthy wine storage, and they are, but Pinot Noir reminds us that acidity also plays an important role.

Classic food pairings for Pinot Noir include salmon, duck, chicken, and lamb. It also works beautifully with mushrooms, pizza and Levantine cuisine. But you know how we do it here: pair wine with mood instead of food. Pinot Noir is versatile. Its light and can be served at slightly lower temperatures from your first spring patio lunches through the last evening gatherings you still wear sandals to in the fall.

The Last Drop

I’m a big fan of Pinot Noir, and you probably are too. After all, it is one of the most popular red wines around. Sure, Miles Raymond’s love for the grape in the movie Sideways boosted its popularity, but let’s be honest, it would’ve never stuck if the wine sucked. Unfortunately, more demand—because of the movie—meant that every winemaker began jumping on the bandwagon, and that resulted in some mediocre Pinots flooding the market.

Over 20 years have passed since the movie, and balance has been somewhat restored. Burgundy, of course, remains the gold standard, and the New World keeps improving, finding better terroirs to plant Pinot Noir vines. Chile makes great ones, and even if they don’t yet match the best Burgundian examples, they are budget friendly and delicious.

Do you like Pinot Noir? Let me know your favorites in the comments down below!

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Footnotes

[i] Or irrigation. In reality, what the grape dislikes is too much water.

[ii] “The year is 50 BC. Gaulin entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely. One small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders.” R. Goscinny. Man, I hope some of y’all get this reference!

[iii] Philip II was the youngest son of King John II the Good and the Duke of Burgundy from 1363 to his death in 1404.

[iv] Which literally translates to “fine plant”.

[v] The story is interesting and sad for Gamay, which Philip II banned from being planted in Burgundy. The Duke called it a “Very band and very disloyal” grape and ordered growers to cut down all Gamay plantations within a month! No, I don’t know why he felt so sour about this varietal, but it’s the reason today we find very little Gamay—mostly in and around Beaujolais—planted in Burgundy.

[vi] Or the name of the village where the plots of land are located. Burgundy labeling is complicated.

[vii] Pinot Noirs made in the Leyda subregion of San Antonio are, in my opinion, worth seeking out!

[viii] Noir = Black; Blanc = White; Gris = Grey. You know what else translates to grey, but this time from Italian? Grigio. As in Pinot Grigio.

[ix] Anne Krebiehl wrote a well researched article for Wine Enthusiast about Pinot Noir clones. You can read it here.

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Cover Image: A few bottles of red Burgundy (a.k.a Pinot Noir) outdoors. Photo by Maël Balland.