Preferred Wine Cellars
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Pinot Noir Wine Around the World
Pinot Noir is a delicious, medium-bodied red wine with red berry flavors. If you are looking for a red wine, which is not too heavy but has a wonderful flavor and goes beautifully with cheese, game, Italian food and many other cuisines, why not try Pinot Noir wine?
There has been a lot of cross-pollination of Pinot Noir grapes, resulting in different wine varietals. The church and nobility in the northeast of France grew Pinot during the Middle Ages and peasants grew Gouais Blanc. These two varietals crossed. Pinot Noir was also crossed with Cinsaut grapes in South Africa in 1925, resulting in Pinotage.
The Best Pinot Noir Wine
There are various countries producing Pinot Noir today. Pinot Noir wine is produced in various regions of Australia. It is also made in Ontario, Canada, in the Niagara Peninsula amongst other areas.
In Austria, Pinot Noir wine is known as Blue Burgundy. These wines are dry and similar to French Burgundy red wines in flavor. Pinot Noir is made in the UK too and the grape is usually used to make sparkling wine blends or to make light white or rose wines.
As you might expect, Pinot Noir wine is also made in France, in the Burgundy area. These wines can be kept in wine cellars for up to twenty years and they age very well, developing smooth, floral flavors. Spanish Pinot Noir wine is made in Cataluna and Andalucia. Swiss Pinot Noir is dry and full-bodied. This grape is blended with Gamay in Valais to make Dole wine.
In New Zealand, Pinot Noir wine has started to win international accolations and awards for its Pinot Noir wines. This wine is fruit-driven and matures early in the bottle. It is quite full-bodied for a Pinot Noir and the oak amount is restrained. The best ones have complex, savory, and earthy flavors.
Other Countries Producing This Wine
This wine is called Spatburgunder in Germany, which means "late Burgundian" and it is the most widely planted red grape in the country. The wine is not exported often and it tends to be dark and rich-tasting. Italian Pinot Noir wine (or Pinot Nero, as it is known there) can be challenging in some regions because of the soil conditions and climate but it does well in others.
A lot of grapes were planted in Moldova in the 1800s but phylloxera killed most of the vines. During Soviet control, which was between 1940 and 1991, the vineyards also produced less. Pinot Noir from Moldova varies in quality but a lot of it is rough and too heavily oaked for a lot of palates.
Pinot Noir Wine in the United States
Most Pinot Noir is grown in California, with Oregon in second place. New York, Michigan and Washington also have Pinot Noir vineyards. The top Californian Pinot Noir wine producing areas include the Central Coast, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Monterey County, Livermore Valley, Anderson Valley, Santa Rita Hills, Carneros, Santa Cruz Mountains, and San Luis Obispo County.
In Oregon, Willamette Valley is the key production area and this region is at the same latitude as Burgundy, in France, so the Pinot Noir grapes (which can be tricky to grow) do well in that climate.
