Pinot noir

Pinot noir is a wine grape variety. The name may also refer to wines made primarily from this grape. The name derives from the French words pine (pine cone) and noir (black). The term pine is due to the fact that this variety has tight, conical clusters shaped like pine cones.

It is considered to produce some of the most elegant wines in the world, but it is a difficult variety to grow and vinify. The grape tends to produce tight clusters, making it susceptible to viticultural risks, including rot, and requiring diligent canopy management. Its thin skin and low levels of phenolic compounds make pinot noir produce wines with a light color, medium body, and few tannins. Wines from this variety age unevenly and unpredictably, and can go through a mute phase (where flavors and aromas are not noticeable). When young, pinot noir wines tend to have aromas of red fruits, such as cherries, raspberries, and strawberries. As they age, they can develop vegetal and "farmyard" aromas.

Pinot noir grows all over the world, especially in cool regions, although it is primarily associated with the French region of Burgundy. Other wine regions have achieved reputations with pinot noir, such as Oregon's Willamette Valley, Carneros, California's Central Coast and Russian River area, South Africa's Walker Bay region, Tasmania and Australia's Yarra Valley, and New Zealand's Central Otago, Martinborough and Marlborough regions. Pinot noir is also a grape used for sparkling wine production in the Champagne region and other wine regions.

Pinot noir leaves are usually smaller than those of Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah, and the vine is usually less vigorous than those varieties. The cluster is small and conical-cylindrical, with a shape similar to a pine cone. Some viticulture historians believe that this similarity in shape could be the origin of its name.[4] In the vineyard, pinot noir is sensitive to wind, frost, bud zone, soil type, and pruning techniques. In vinification, it is sensitive to fermentation methods and yeast strains, and it reflects the terroir in which it is grown very well, producing very different wines depending on the region. Its thin skin makes it susceptible to rot (Botrytis cinerea) and similar fungal diseases of the cluster. The vines are susceptible to downy mildew and, in Burgundy (and elsewhere), to leafroll infection and the GFLV virus, called fanleaf in English, which also attacks the leaves. These complications have given this grape a reputation for being difficult to grow: Francis Robinson called pinot "a cheeky vine," and André Tchelistcheff declared that "God made Cabernet Sauvignon and the devil made Pinot Noir." It is much less tolerant than Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, and Grenache of wind, warmth, and drought.