Pinot Noir is a difficult grape to grow. If you've had some less than stellar Pinot Noir - and I have had my share - it can turn you off wines made with the grape. That exact thing had happened to me for a few years but, a couple of years ago, I tried some Pinot Noir from the Okanagan that was so good that it restored my faith in, what winegrowers call, the heartbreak grape.
Pinot Noir originates from Burgundy. It is an elegant and delicate grape, full of red fruit flavours, which can age well and become more complex. It usually has light body and light to medium tannins, and you have got to be really careful taking with new oak because it can overpower this delicate wine.
This is where you find such world famous (and expensive) wines like Le Chambertin Grand Cru and Domaine Romanée Conti. Let's all go to the Cote de Nuits!
What is all this stuff with crus and grand crus? Well, in France, there is a system that tells you how good the wine is and it is similar, but not identical, in each region.
In Burgundy, the basic wines are the Bourgogne wines. These are produced on flat fields and make up most of the production.
Next are the Villages wines, on still fairly flat land, named after a commune or village - say, like Gevery-Chambertin - and go for $50 - $70.
Next are the Premiere Cru wines which are on steeper land with different soil and produce higher quality wines - maybe around $100. They say Premiere Cru on the label.
Finally are the Grand Cru wines which are on the steepest parts of the valley and are so exceptional that they have their own AOC - basically their vineyard is the name. For example, Chambertin Clos de Bezé.
There are good Pinot Noir wines in California (Sonoma - Russian River, Carneros, Santa Barbera - near LA!) and in Oregon, which is said to have Pinot Noir like Burgundy. Chile has the grape in Casablanca and San Antonio and supposedly has a strawberry jam flavour.
There are good Pinot Noir wines in both South African (Walker Bay) and Australia (Yarra Valley, Worthington Peninsula). And there are some pretty awesome New Zealand Pinot Noir from Marlborough and, especially, Otago, where it is fuller body, lower acidity and intense.
Our first two Pinot Noir wines were from Burgundy.
The first was clear, pale and ruby with medium intensity on the nose and red fruit like red currant, cranberry, plum, and especially raspberry. On the palate it had high acidity - really high it seemed - medium body, light tannins, the same red fruit and a bit of oak. Due to its light body and almost short finish, our group gave it an Acceptable rating! It was a 2014 Bourgogne Les Ursulines made by Jean-Claude Boisset ($25).
It was clear, ruby with medium intensity. On the nose was medium intensity but many aromas including red fruit, plum, jam, fig, red cherry, rhubarb and red liquorice! There were also spices including cinnamon and nutmeg.
On the palate, there were low tannins, medium body and an almost earthy taste. The aromas I smelled were all reflected in the taste as well as some oak, black pepper, and smoke. It had a medium plus finish and our group rated it Very Good. It was a Louis Jadot, Premiere Cru, Beaune Greves from 2012 and well worth the $90 the WSET people had to pay!
Our last two Pinot Noir wines were from the New World.
First up was a California 2011 from the Russian River Valley in Sonoma made by Pedroncelli ($31). It was clear, pale, and garnet in colour. On the nose there were some red fruit, plum and spice, all at medium intensity. More red fruit was apparent on the palate with medium plus acidity, medium minus tannins, medium body and a medium finish. It was OK but just didn't seem all that complex.
The last wine was a New Zealand wine from Otago from Felton Road and was a 2015 priced at $70. It was clear, pale and ruby in colour. It had a medium plus intensity on the nose and there were red fruits like strawberry and raspberry as well as cedar and oak. On the palate it had medium length and medium body with tastes of red fruit like red cherry and red currant, plum, oak, toast, vanilla, cinnamon and white pepper.
Our group really liked this and rated it very good but Dave, our instructor, said it was more of a Good Plus.
Both the New Zealand Pinot Noir and the Premiere Cru from Burgundy would make a very nice wine to drink on a special occasion. I'm not sure if I would even want to purchase the other two as they were less money but suffered from not being a flavourful enough Pinot Noir.
I leave for the Okanagan this weekend and will be undoubtedly be tasting a variety of wines. Not sure if I will be blogging on all of them but I will try to sip and slurp a couple at least.
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