Côte de Nuits
Burgundy, France
The source. Vosne-Romanée, Chambolle, Gevrey. Silk and iron, rose petal and forest floor.
A love letter to wine, and to the moody, transparent, maddening grape that started it all. Pinot Noir, everywhere it grows well.
Thin-skinned, hard to grow and impossible to fake. Pinot Noir shows you exactly where it came from: the slope, the soil, the year. Get it right and you taste a place. Get it wrong and you know it immediately. That's the whole romance.
Cool climates, long seasons, patient growers. These are the places I keep coming back to.
The source. Vosne-Romanée, Chambolle, Gevrey. Silk and iron, rose petal and forest floor.
Volnay's perfume, Pommard's muscle. The quieter half of the Côte d'Or, and often the better value.
Red volcanic Jory soils and Dundee Hills fog. Bright red fruit with Burgundian ambition.
Pacific chill and ridge-top vineyards. Dark cherry, sea spray and real tension.
The world's southernmost Pinot. Alpine light, schist soils, vivid plum and thyme.
A west-facing gap that funnels in the ocean wind. Brooding, saline and structured.
Pinot Noir is light in color but layered in flavor: red cherry, wild strawberry, rose petal and violet, with earthy notes of forest floor and mushroom, a touch of baking spice and, with age, truffle.
Serve Pinot Noir slightly cool, around 55–60°F (13–16°C), in a wide Burgundy bowl glass, and give it about 20 minutes in the glass to open up.
Pinot Noir thrives in cool climates. The benchmark is Burgundy's Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune in France. Outstanding examples also come from Oregon's Willamette Valley, California's Sonoma Coast and Santa Rita Hills, and Central Otago in New Zealand.
Pinot Noir's bright acidity and soft tannins make it one of the most food-friendly reds. Classic pairings are duck, salmon, mushroom dishes and roast chicken.
Pinot Noir has thin skins and tight clusters, which make it prone to rot, sunburn and frost. It needs a long, cool growing season, and it shows every flaw of the vineyard and the vintage, which is also why great Pinot is so expressive of place.
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