Pinot Noir - "Sex in a glass"
March, 2014 Filed in: Wine varieties
Sommelier Madeline Triffon calls Pinot Noir “sex in a glass”. Whereas viticulturist Andre Tchelistcheff states “God made Cabernet Sauvignon whereas the devil made Pinot Noir”. Why the difference?
Well the second quote refers to the difficulty growers have with this variety. You see Pinot Noir is extremely difficult to grow. The variety is sensitive to winds and frost, and very susceptible to various disease particularly rot. Pinot Noir growers must use more intense canopy management practices with the variety. This is due to the tight clusters of grapes typical of the variety. Actually that is how it came into its name as Pinot translates into pine as the Pinot Noir grape clusters resemble pine cones.
Assuming the grapes are properly harvested the variety also produces pains to the winemaker as it is unlike other varieties particular to the yeast strain. Basically Pinot Noir is a brat.
Okay, so it is a tough grape to grow, but wow is it an amazing wine to drink. The Pinot Noir grape is thin-skinned, making it lower in tannins and phenolic compounds, but as a result it is very fruity. Being low in tannins it is great for those of us who can get a headache from a high tannic wine. And if you love fruit forward wines, Pinot Noir is a wine for you. Consumed young it delivers flavours of cherries, raspberries and strawberries. Left to age it develops more herbal, mushroom and gamy flavours. Typically new world (North America and New Zealand) Pinots are more fruit forward whereas European Pinots are more earthy. Pinot Noir is also a lower alcohol wine, usually around 12%.
While Canada did well in the Olympics, earning quite a few gold, in 2013 we also achieved world wide recognition for our Pinot Noir. The 2011 Martin Lane Pinot Noir from Mission Hill Winery produced in the Okanagan won best Pinot Noir in the world at the prestigious Decanter World Wide Awards.
Pinot Noir should be served slightly colder than other red wines, best served at 17 C. It is often called the red wine for white wine drinkers. Pinot Noir can be best paired with pork and poultry, lamb, mushroom risotto, and grill salmon.
In March we are proud to offer the Winexpert Limited Edition Pinot Noir. Oregon is the Mecca for Pinot Noir, producing phenomenal Pinots. You would be hard pressed to find a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir in a liquor store for under $40. We highly recommend, if you are going to make a Pinot Noir makes this one.
Well the second quote refers to the difficulty growers have with this variety. You see Pinot Noir is extremely difficult to grow. The variety is sensitive to winds and frost, and very susceptible to various disease particularly rot. Pinot Noir growers must use more intense canopy management practices with the variety. This is due to the tight clusters of grapes typical of the variety. Actually that is how it came into its name as Pinot translates into pine as the Pinot Noir grape clusters resemble pine cones.
Assuming the grapes are properly harvested the variety also produces pains to the winemaker as it is unlike other varieties particular to the yeast strain. Basically Pinot Noir is a brat.
Okay, so it is a tough grape to grow, but wow is it an amazing wine to drink. The Pinot Noir grape is thin-skinned, making it lower in tannins and phenolic compounds, but as a result it is very fruity. Being low in tannins it is great for those of us who can get a headache from a high tannic wine. And if you love fruit forward wines, Pinot Noir is a wine for you. Consumed young it delivers flavours of cherries, raspberries and strawberries. Left to age it develops more herbal, mushroom and gamy flavours. Typically new world (North America and New Zealand) Pinots are more fruit forward whereas European Pinots are more earthy. Pinot Noir is also a lower alcohol wine, usually around 12%.
While Canada did well in the Olympics, earning quite a few gold, in 2013 we also achieved world wide recognition for our Pinot Noir. The 2011 Martin Lane Pinot Noir from Mission Hill Winery produced in the Okanagan won best Pinot Noir in the world at the prestigious Decanter World Wide Awards.
Pinot Noir should be served slightly colder than other red wines, best served at 17 C. It is often called the red wine for white wine drinkers. Pinot Noir can be best paired with pork and poultry, lamb, mushroom risotto, and grill salmon.
In March we are proud to offer the Winexpert Limited Edition Pinot Noir. Oregon is the Mecca for Pinot Noir, producing phenomenal Pinots. You would be hard pressed to find a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir in a liquor store for under $40. We highly recommend, if you are going to make a Pinot Noir makes this one.