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I remember as a kid walking into the work
shed at my grandparents' farm, and going to the mushroom cellar.
After prying open the door and descending into the damp cool
climes, an indescribable perfume would envelop me. It was
a combination of composting organic matter and fungus. When
the mushrooms were later harvested and prepared, they emitted
an aroma that was nearly overwhelming. While I wasn't much
fond of mushrooms then, somehow I carried a positive memory
of that olfactory experience into adulthood. When I first
got a whiff of it in a Burgundy, I knew exactly what that
was.
To this day, this aromatic memory stamps
what I look for in a bottle of Pinot Noir, the grape of red
Burgundy. It's not always there, however. Pinot Noir varies
widely in flavors within a still-narrow band of options. It
may supply bright, floral scents and intense cherry and other
red fruit flavors. Subject the grapes to whole berry fermentation
(a/k/a carbonic maceration) and you get intense lifted primary
fruit extracts.
In parts of "Down Under" (Australia
and New Zealand), you'll find accents of dried herb--rather
like a dried wild thyme--in Pinot Noir. In New Zealand, Pinot
Noir is much more savory (especially Martinborough) than it
is cherry fruit. New Zealand Pinot Noir often will pair nicely
with mild curries as a result, whereas the big red fruit style
won't.
Pinot Noir is a supremely tough grape to
grow and vinify. Finicky and high-maintenance. By some professional
estimates, there may be anywhere from 200 to 1,000 clones
of pinot noir on the planet, with a staggering 46 of them
coming from Dijon, France, whereas the Cabernet Sauvignon
grape has only about a dozen. Pinot Noir is unstable. One
may graft from a good producing vine, only to create an offspring
that isn't nearly as fruitful. It requires a cool climate
but a warming soil to encourage ripening, and slow ripening
is important to retain the vine’s hold on acids.
Pinot Noir prefers cooler climates to warm
ones. Planted in zones that are too warm for Pinot Noir (Paso
Robles, for instance), the grape produces a wine that is alcoholic
and over-the-top. You almost can't tell it is Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir often is described as "feminine"
versus the more "masculine" Cabernet Sauvignon.
That characteristic led one gentleman in a session I was teaching
to pronounce a rather full-bodied Pinot Noir as "watery."
It wasn't. But his benchmark was the heftier Cabernet Sauvignon,
so by contrast, the Pinot Noir seemed "puny." The
comparison, frankly, is inappropriate.
Pinot Noir is (or should be) elegant, and
not blockbuster. Its delicacy demands being vinified in French
oak, the most expensive sort, naturally. American oak generally
imparts a strong coconut-vanilla taste that conflicts with
the grape's inherent delicacy. Hungarian oak probably has
seen its share of duty with respect to making Pinot Noir,
but that's not a typical choice. Neither is Slovenian oak.
Both of these fine oaks have better duty elsewhere, as with
Zinfandel, for instance.
With a long pedigree as a wine grape, Pinot
Noir has been grown and made into wine dating as far back
as the Roman Empire. Spreading out from its modern-day home
base in Burgundy's Cote d'Or, a two-mile wide and 33-mile-long
strip of precious calcareous soils, Pinot Noir has also found
second homes in many parts of the planet. In the US, Oregon
sits on the same latitude as Burgundy, and has claimed singular
kinship with its sister region. It is there, in Oregon’s Willamette
Valley, that Harry Peterson-Nedry at Chehalem has partnered
with Burgundy's Daniel Rion to craft singular Pinot Noirs.
Drouhin has nestled right next to Sokol-Blosser winery. While
Oregon's primary Pinot Noir region is the Willamette Valley,
Umpqua and Rogue, south of Willamette, claim to suffer fewer
ripening challenges than their Willamette neighbors to the
north.
High altitudes in Argentina and Chile have
been planted in Pinot Noir. You'll also find it in Walker
Bay, South Africa, a zone that sweeps southeast of Cape Town
along the famed Garden Route. Down under, in Australia, look
for it coming from Tasmania, and Yarra Valley. In sundry parts
of New Zealand, Pinot Noir originates notably from Marlborough,
Hawke's Bay, Martinborough, and Central Otago. In California,
Santa Barbara County, Carneros, Russian River Valley, Santa
Lucia Highlands, Santa Cruz Mountains, and Sonoma Coast (with
wonderful maritime influences) have all found Pinot Noir comfort
zones. Look for very special vineyard names on some of the
best: Bien Nacido (Santa Barbara); Sleepy Hollow and Garys'
(both hailing from Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County).
Winemakers who have contracts for these precious grapes stake
out claims that they proudly indicate on their labels, and
in the case of Bien Nacido, listing by its designated letter
of the alphabet from which block each gets his or her grapes
in that 800-plus-acre vineyard.
While we may think of Pinot Noir as exclusively
grown in Burgundy, Alsace also grows some, a few examples
of which are available in limited amounts in the Atlanta market.
And it's grown in Champagne, where it's part of the triumvirate
for that wine. In fact, more Pinot Noir is grown in Champagne
than in Burgundy's Cote d'Or.
Germany, Austria and Switzerland all grow
Pinot Noir, but know it is known by other names. Spatburgunder
or Blauburgunder in Austria, Spatburgunder in Germany, and
Clevner in Switzerland, where, when it's blended with Gamay
Noir, it's called "Dole." In Italy, it's Pinot Nero.
In Germany's northernmost wine-growing region, the Ahr, Pinot
Noir is tough to ripen, so the wines tend to be a pale pink
and often are vinified with some sweetness. Pinot pundits
denigrate this style, but I've found it to be deliciously
paired with grilled or barbecued light foods. Since it's a
real challenge to sell this, I haven't seen one in Atlanta
in more than a decade. (If anybody spots one out there, do
let me know.). Romania may well be its’ best home in eastern
Europe. Years ago, a very good inexpensive Pinot Noir was
imported into this country under the label Avia from Romania.
Today, you'll find a new player, Resaca (local distributor,
Rhapsody Wines), the name of both a region in Romania and
a producer.
Pinot Noir's light-to-medium body and subtlety
make it very food flexible. It can pair nicely with white
meats or lean reds. Selected Pinots will go with grilled salmon
or tuna and halibut. But not all; some will enhance salmon's
fish oil taste, and that's not pleasant. Get too much cherry
in them, and they won't go with much of anything. Balance
is key. You want a little of each of these nuances, so that
they face off with other elements. And you want some acidity,
a key ingredient with some minerality.
Burgundy has a role in some wonderful classic
dishes that are among the foundations of French cooking. Boeuf
Bourgignone, for instance, is beef chunks marinated in Burgundy
(Pinot Noir), and then cooked in the wine with onions and
mushrooms. Do not feel the need to spill an expensive one
in this department; be sure to use a tasty and fairly full-bodied
bottle. I like to use the Brancott (National Distributing)
from New Zealand, which costs about $13, and drinks mighty
nobly with the dish as well. Another favorite dish is Oeufs
Meurette, eggs poached in Burgundy, where the wine is reduced
to make a sauce. This dish often seen in Burgundian restaurants
as a first course, but some find it too rich and filling so
early in the meal. I love it as a brunch dish, which is not
an especially French notion, but what the heck, and while
dish is hard to find in Atlanta, I usually prepare it myself.
Coq au vin rouge works well made with Burgundy/Pinot Noir.
Need any more urging?
I didn't think so.
Serve all these at moderately cool temperatures, about 65
degrees. Choose a big round-bowled glass.
Jane Garvey
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