Is pinot noir worth all the fuss?

“Nothing makes the future look so rosy as to contemplate it through a glass of Chambertin.” Napoleon Bonaparte

"Ah, pinot noir – the grape that makes wine geeks swoon. Whether sheer and ethereal, or earthy and ripe, this wine is gorgeous in nearly every incarnation. There have been movies produced, poems written, and countless books testifying to its virtues."

In answer to the question at the top of the page - I have no idea and I'm not going to answer it here. But I did look into it a little bit. Why? Well this evening's wine group is going to be a little bit pinot noir focussed. Nevertheless some of the members of this local group will not be bringing along pinot noir because they really really don't like it. My husband adores it. It seems to be a wine that does that to people - you either love it or hate it. There's a quote that God made cabernet and the Devil made pinot but I really don't understand how that came about. It might be because it's so difficult to grow. The grapes are packed tight together, the vines don't yield much, the skins are thin and they are prone to all sorts of diseases. Also difficult to make a wine from them for reasons I do not understand and do not really care to look into.

"there’s a lingering perception of pinot as a wussy grape, one for wine geeks who’d wither at the merest whiff of a ball-tearing shiraz."

The real reason I don't know whether pinot is worth the fuss or not - well in my opinion - is that I shall probably never get to taste a really good pinot noir because they are so amazingly expensive. I gather our own (Australian) top pinot noir - Bass Phillip - costs about $350 a bottle! In the bottle shop - if they had it in the bottle shop. Because not much of it is made and it's probably all sold to long-time customers and restaurants as soon as it is produced. There is no way we shall be spending that much on a bottle of wine. But then again why not - if it's that good? I say that rather shamefacedly because we could afford it and obviously most people cannot - but we would not spend that much on a bottle of wine. But really, really, why not? I'm guessing that a lot of skill, time and money has gone into producing it and if you are really besotted with pinot noir - as lots of people are - and you can afford it - why not? Maybe because the risk is too high - because apparently it's not always good. Maybe it's a case of "when it's good it's very, very good, and when it's bad it's horrid." And even the moderately good pinot noir is beyond our normal wine budget - which I have to say is a bit stingy really. But then if you can get really nice, cheap wine (not pinot noir) why would you spend more?

"Pinot Noir can be such a heartbreaking grape, from both the producing and the consuming sides. When it's good, Pinot Noir is a silky-smooth, aromatic wine, light and delicate. It's the ultimate food wine, with nuances and textures that transcend many other varietals. When it's second-rate, Pinot Noir can be a disappointing blow to the wallet." Wine Spectator

In Burgundy - the world's prime pinot noir producer, the price is astronomical. This is partly due to reputation, supply and demand, and the fact that some of the vineyards are so small that they do not produce very much and can therefore demand high prices based on historical reputation and name alone. It might be an urban myth, but I did read that the vineyards are so small because under French rules of inheritance, when someone dies, the property must be divided equally between the children - and therefore the vineyards became smaller and smaller. Some are just a row of vines. In Bordeaux - maybe another urban myth - this led to the big families having only one child. There might be a grain of truth in there, because that's certainly the French inheritance law. Maybe they are all owned by big international companies now. I really don't know, though I'm sure you can find out if you care to investigate.

But if you travel to Burgundy the wealth is extremely noticeable. But it's beautiful too.

I gather that Chile is now a respected producer, as is Australia and also New Zealand. I'm not sure about America but the very fact that the film Sideways went on about it so much probably means that good pinots are made there too. And incidentally that film raised the consumption of pinot by about 15% - or was it 12%? Thereabouts anyway.

So that's all I have to say really - I do like this quote though. Chardonnay is a burgundy wine too. White burgundy is very expensive but you can get very, very nice chardonnay here at a much cheaper price. so why bother? It must be easier to grow.

"Pinot noir is the ultimate wine to have at the table. It's a white wine masquerading as red...[while] chardonnay is a red masquerading as a white." Kevin Zraly