Eight Facts about Pinot Noir (and Burgundy)
By Mark Middlebrook
Burgundy producer Cyril Audoin
tastes pinot noir grapes in his
vineyard in Pommard.
- Thanks to the film Sideways, sales of pinot noir in the U.S. have
climbed somewhere between 15% and 50%, depending on which reports you
read. We at Paul Marcus Wines applaud anything that gets more people
to pay more attention to pinot noir. However, consider this: Sideways
came out two years ago. California producers have been making serious
pinot noirs for two decades at the most, and Oregon producers for not
much longer. (And we're happy to stock some of the best examples of
California and Oregon pinot noirs at PMW.) The denizens of Burgundy
have been making wine from pinot noir since at least the 14th
century, and there's evidence that the grape variety existed there in
the 4th century.
- Red Burgundy is pinot noir - certainly the original pinot noir and
arguably still the reference point for great pinot noir. No, it
usually doesn't say "pinot noir" on the label, and the welter of
village, vineyard, and producer names can be confusing. But the best
things in life require some effort, and we're here to help. Just as
the Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, Carneros, and Willamette
Valley each lend a different character to pinot noir, so too Gevrey-
Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-St-Denis, and Savigny-Lès-
Beaune. Saintsbury, Mount Eden Vineyards, and Brewer-Clifton make
different styles of pinot noir, as do Château de Puligny-Montrachet,
Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier, and Domaine Dujac. The names are different,
but the ideas are the same. Ask us.
- Pinot noir is what we wine nerds call a "transparent" grape
variety. It's extraordinarily sensitive to where it's grown - the
vineyard's soil and exposure - and to the vagaries of vintage. This
characteristic results in wines that reflect their place and time in
an uncommonly vivid way.
- Benedictine and Cistercian monks began keeping vineyard records
and codifying Burgundy terroirs in the Middle Ages. They noticed
differences in the wines that came from different vineyard areas and
built stone walls that designated those differences. Many of the
modern-day Burgundian appellation and vineyard boundaries are based
on those monks' work.
- If you ask one of the more smart-aleck-y members of the PMW staff,
"where are the pinots?", you might be met with the reply, "which
ones?". That's because pinot noir is one of a family of pinot grapes.
The family includes pinot noir (black pinot), pinot gris (gray
pinot), and pinot blanc (white pinot) - all so-named because of the
relative colors of their skins. In grape varieties, unlike in human
beings, skin color strongly influences character. Another important
member of the family is pinot meunier; together with pinot noir and
chardonnay, pinot meunier forms the triumvirate of grapes used to
make Champagne and Champagne-style sparkling wines.
- Chardonnay has sometimes been referred to as "pinot chardonnay",
perhaps because in Burgundy it's the white wine cousin of pinot noir.
White Burgundy is chardonnay and red Burgundy is pinot noir. You
could go through life drinking California chardonnay and pinot noir
without learning about their Burgundian models, but that would be
like listening to the Rolling Stones without ever knowing anything
about Robert Johnson - possible, but hardly desirable!
- The best, funnest, and most delicious way to learn more about
Burgundy - both the red and white versions - is to join us for Paul Marcus Wines Burgundy dinners:
Tuesday, January 17, 2006, 7:00 PM at the Bay Wolf.
August 2, 2006, 7:00 PM at the Bay Wolf Tuesday, with Cyril Audoin.
- Duck and red Burgundy constitute one of the great food and wine
combinations. No one in the Bay Area does duck better than Bay Wolf's
executive chef Michael Wild. No one in the Bay Area knows Burgundy
better than Paul Marcus, who has selected the wines for this dinner.
You'll be in good hands.
If you'd like to read more about Burgundy, check out these PMW
newsletter articles:
A "Where-ness" of Wine: Burgundy
A Conversation about White Burgundy: White Wines of the Côte de Beaune
Drink Green
In an effort to cut down on the amount of paper bags that we use, we
now carry sturdy, reusable, tote-able Green Bags with a 6-bottle
carrying capacity. We sell them for $3 (just above our cost). And
each time you fill up your Green Bag with six bottles, we'll give you
5% off the total. It's our way of offering a half-case discount to
our customers who help us reduce paper consumption.
And of course, we continue to offer 10% off case purchases (12
bottles), which we pack in reused and recyclable cardboard boxes - or
now in two of your Green Bags, if you prefer!
More on the Way
We publish newsletters every few months and send them out via e-mail. In addition, we post all issues of the newsletter, plus maps and photographs, on paulmarcuswines.com. If you like what you've read so far, then sign up for e-mail delivery of future newsletters by sending an e-mail message to newsletter@paulmarcuswines.com. And don't worry - we will never, ever sell, rent, or give away your e-mail address.
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Copyright © 2006 by Paul Marcus Wines.
First e-mailed on 12-Jan-2006. First posted on paulmarcuswines.com on 24-Jul-2006. Last updated 10-Aug-2006.
