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Pinot Noir: The “Heart Break” Grape

“Oh its flavors, they're just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and ancient on the planet.” 

            So Miles Raymond describes his passionate obsession with Pinot Noir in the movie, “Sideways.”  It is, indeed, an ancient varietal, first planted by the Gauls and early Romans in the Burgundy region of France more than 2,000 years ago.  To this day, some of the best productions grow on chalky, limestone soils along a narrow 2-by-30-miles strip of land called the Côtes d’Or (“coat-door”)—the “hillsides of gold” along the west banks of the Saône River Valley. 

“It's a hard grape to grow… it's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It's not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and thrive even when it's neglected. No, Pinot needs constant care and attention…”

            Pinot Noir, named for the small, dark, pine-cone shaped clusters of grapes, has been called the “heart break” grape because of the many potential misfortunes that challenge the grower.  The vines are amongst the first to unfold their leaves in the Spring, exposing them to frost.  The grapes are thin-skinned and easily broken, prone to mildew, a late frost or summer heat wave.  The berries are consumed by birds, and must be hand-harvested before they shrivel and turn to raisins; and these are just a few of the list of maladies that can turn a wine maker's’s hair a premature gray.

“It can only grow in these really specific, little, tucked away corners of the world… and only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it...”

            Call it Pinot envy, but several other wine growing regions with similar climates and soils aspire to produce this intractable grape.  Brought to California by Agoston Harazsthy (RDF 1/31/08), he planted cuttings from France in what is now the famous “Carneros” District of the southern Napa-Sonoma valleys.  Carneros vineyards are cooled by morning fog emanating from the north arm of the San Francisco Bay, the clouds giving way to warm summer sun in the afternoons, just the right balance of moisture and temperature to allow long, slow maturation of the berries, protected from the extremes of cold and heat.  Other California viticultural areas with similar “terroir” are producing some excellent Pinots, including the Santa Ynez Valley of Northern Santa Barbara County, Edna Valley of San Luis Obispo, and Carmel Valley of Monterey. 

            There is much worried discussion among wine growers of the impacts of Global Warming on the wine industry.  The general thinking is that wine-growing regions, particularly for thin-skinned varieties like Pinot Noir, will move toward the coast or northwards to maintain their cool, Mediterranean conditions.  Proof of the trend is evidenced by some outstanding Pinots coming from the Willamette Valley in Oregon and Columbia Valley in Washington.  Their climate is strikingly similar to that of New Zealand, with some truly classic Pinots coming from Marlborough, on the north coast of the South Island—cooled on both sides by the South Pacific.

“Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot's potential can then coax it into its fullest expression.”

            Having survived the gauntlet of potential wine woes, the persevering vintner may produce one of three basic Pinot styles.  The lightest is a fruity, medium-weight wine, not or only slightly oaked, yielding an easy-drinking claret to be consumed within 3-5 years, best served slightly chilled.  The second style is medium- to full-bodied, with moderate tannins derived from oak aging, best served within 4-8 years of vintage, characterized by dark cherry, spice and mineral notes.  Finally, the biggest and richest Pinots are heavily-oaked (up to 16 months or more), with high resulting tannins; don’t even think about drinking less than 5 years from vintage, some of the most renowned vintages holding up for 30 years or more.

            With all of its challenges, oak aging, and special handling, one can expect to pay more for a bottle than for other varietals, but to the ardent Pinot-lover, there is no substitute for the complexity and poetic balance of fruit and wood and earth that one evokes from a good glass of Pinot Noir.  

Join other Pinot-philes in a special tasting, “Sideways through California,” in which we will host a horizontal tasting (all same vintage) of California Pinots and Zinfandels at the University of Redlands on March 27^th.  For more information and reservations go to:  info@wineology.org