Picky Pinot - the Heartbreak Grape - WSET Class number 3 - Part 2

I started off talking about my Pinot Noir experiences during my last blog as a way to introduce the Pinot Noir tasting at my WSET course this week - but I got a bit carried away....

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.

The Cote d'Or in Burgundy is divided into two parts, the Cote de Nuits and the Cote de Beaune. Basically, the Cote de Beaune produces the highest amount of Pinot Noir while the Cote de Nuits produces the best wine with more intensity, complexity and length.

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).

The second one - ahh - the second was a different Pinot Noir!

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.

Pinot Noir Hour in Beaune - Buvez! A WSET interlude....

My first exposure to Pinot Noir was many years ago when I was backpacking in Europe. Problem is, I didn't even know it was Pinot Noir.

I was travelling with a good friend but we decided to split up for a few weeks as I wanted to tour around France and he was not so inclined. There might have been a girl involved as well, it's a bit hazy with time...

I wanted to visit Burgundy and try Burgundy wine because I had heard it was good. I ended up staying at a cheap hotel in Beaune for a couple of nights and went off in pursuit of this thing called Burgundy wine - made from, I erroneously thought,  the Burgundy grape.

I finally stumbled on the Marché aux Vins - a place that still exists today but with many more restrictions on the tastings.  I had long forgotten how much it cost but I remember getting a shallow metal cup to taste with. After rummaging around in my photos from that time (1983) I found my actual entry ticket with the price 25 Francs - about $5 at that time. That gave me an hour with all that wine....

After rummaging around some more, I found my actual tasting sheet.  At this tasting, the first group of wines were the white wines. There were six different ones ranging from a plain Jane Bourgogne to a Pouilly-Fuissé to a couple with Montrachet in their name - I think there were pretty fancy! You walked up to the bottle, poured a sample into your tin cup, and then drank your sample. It was a very quiet day, however, and I was basically on my own. If I liked a wine, I would fill up Monsieur Tin Cup a few times with the same wine!

Next were the first room of red wines where the process repeated. There were wines from all over including Morgon and Cote de Nuits. Finally, the last red wines. Even with what was, at that time, my very limited palate, I could taste that there was something pretty special about these wines - Pommard, Corton, Vosge Romanée - if I knew what I knew now, I would have sipped and savoured these wonderful wines.  Unfortunately, I felt compelled to drink as much of these fancy wines as my little cup would repeatedly hold.

I bought a cheaper bottle of wine at the end of the tour and staggered to the bus stop. I found myself in some equivalent to a pub where I ended up opening my bottle and sharing it with some newly made friends, my French language skills improving with each additional glass.

As I said, I was given a sheet of the 30 plus (!) wines that I tried that day. I took notes which become more and more difficult to decipher as I progressed through the tasting. I have included it as I still can't believe some of the wines that I tried.

I was going to blog about my Pinot Noir experiences at my WSET class but I think I've said enough for now. Hope you enjoyed this story of vin, vin, et plus vin!