Pinot Noir – Why we are obsessed with it!
Whether it’s from France, Germany, Italy, Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria, New Zealand, Chilé or the USA, we have really become obsessed with Pinot Noir in Australia. So obsessed that there are entire festivals that travel from state to state to celebrate this incredibly delicate but complex grape.
Why are we obsessed with it? There are a number of reasons but here are the top 3.
1) Where there is Pinot Noir, there can be Champagne!
Where there is Pinot, there is usually Chardonnay. Put those two awesome grapes together, add some yeast and we can ferment into Champagne! Yes, I know you can make Champagne with Chardonnay alone but Pinot Noir gives champagne so much texture and complexity when it’s done correctly.
2) The tannins in pinot make them remarkably suited for ageing and to have with food.
Even though Pinot Noir is usually known to be the lighter of the red grape varietals, it’s really complex and does have a lot of tannin. This is because winemakers do a lot of whole bunch fermentation when making a pinot noir. This means they add the stems, seeds, everything into the crusher. This creates that drying sensation at the front of the mouth and the structure adds to Pinots remarkable ability to age. The Tannin and natural acid in Pinot Noir also makes it excellent to drink with food, particularly foods that are famously more ‘fatty’ like duck, anything with butter, pasta, cheese …. essentially, all of the good things.
3) It’s adopts unique characters due to terroir
If you are drinking Pinot Noir from France, it is herbaceous and light, earthy with fresh picked cherries. From Germany; it’s earthy but more raspberry and fresh cherry. From Italy; smoke, tobacco, white pepper and clove. Australia and NZ; sweeter fruit and gamey, from South America, it’s really floral like violets, roses and vanilla rather than fruit…I could go on but in essence, we love that Pinot Noir is so susceptible to regionality and to vintage. Yes, it’s a fickle grape so it makes sense but still….it keeps it interesting.
There are so many reasons to love Pinot Noir and to explore Pinots from all over the world. I guess my question is, have you tried Pinots from unique regions? Let us know below!
WE RECOMMEND TRYING THESE PINOTS
2016 Pemberley Pinot Noir
The 2016 Pinot Noir has been crafted from flavourful grapes and is a wine that illustrates the unique varietal and regional characters of Pemberton Pinot Noir. The aroma displays ripe strawberries and hints of cloves, enhanced by fine oak characters. The palate is soft and elegant with ripe fruity characters and fine grained tannins.“This Pinot Noir given careful cellaring, over the next 4 to 5 years, will continue to improve, displaying more vibrant flavours and soft tannins.
Elysian Springs – 2017 Silent Waters Pinot Noir
This wine is named in honour of the natural spring located on our property that is the origin of the River Torrens which flows through the heart of the city of Adelaide.
Whole bunches from our most distinctive Pinot Noir were hand-selected and picked in the cool of the early morning then destemmed without crushing the fruit. 30% of this was whole cluster fermented, whilst the remaining fruit was crushed and went through traditional open fermentation and 30 day extended skin contact. It was then racked into 50% new and seasoned French oak hogsheads. The wine was then bottled directly thereafter without fining and with minimal filtration to capture the purity of taste and texture of our Pinot Noir.
We hope the silent waters run pure through the heart of this wine!
