Pinot Noir: A Memoir

Good afternoon, my name is Pinot Noir and will be a guest writer today on Quest for Wine.  I have been asked to write this memoir about myself at the request of this blog's everyday writer.  He has asked me to write on the topic of me and what I am about.  My hope is that we will get to know one another and if you haven't tried me before, you go out and get yourself a bottle wherever it may be from.... NOW (well after you read this)!  Typically, I would never write about myself, I'm shy at first and tend to open up.  The writer of this blog speaks very highly of me so I felt it my duty to him to write this.  As I sit, he is actually enjoying a 2007 Gary Farrell (Gary Farrell Wines), Me, Russian River Selection,what a lucky dog.  I would join him but I feel it odd to drink my brothers and sisters.  In any case, I am jealous, well happy, that he is not drinking me.

I am a very temperamental grape, I like to be grown in cool climates with little variations in temperature during my growing season.  I also need a lot of attention in the vineyard and winery.  I am sensitive to too much light exposure and need to produce bunches low in yield, so I can be super good.  I also need a lot of grooming in the vineyard, pruning techniques are key along with super soil.  I just love sending my roots into beautiful soil in search for food. My thin skin makes me susceptible to many fungal diseases, most notably bunch rot.  I'm afraid I am also prone to leaf roll and downy mildew.  Yes... I am difficult!

With the boring and scary things about me put aside.  I hail from many regions of the world however one region of the world has made me famous, France, specifically the Cote d'Or (Cote d'Or).  Arguably, the finest wines, regardless of varietal, come from here and they are also the most expensive.  I think the writer has mentioned this before but French Pinot's on average tend to be on the earthy and herbal side.  Which leads me to a very different type of me.  Another area where I like to grow and grow very well is California and specifically, in the Russian River Valley (Russian River Valley) in Sonoma County where I can be extremely concentrated on the fruit end, bold, bright, and sometimes almost Syrah (or Shiraz in Australia) like.  There has been some great happenings in other regions as well, I would consider France and California as the popular kids on the block, with Oregon and New Zealand being more like the new kids on the block.  However, in Oregon's case, I believe their first plantings were in the '70's but still fairly new compared to the first French plantings.... in 100AD!!!  Oregon Pinot's most resemble the French while the New Zealand are much more like the California wines.  However, I am doing somewhat of a disservice by comparing them.  As with all Pinot's, they are driven by their terroir, even one vineyard in the Russian River Valley can be totally different from a vineyard not 100ft from it, let alone a California vs a Oregon, French etc...  My advice is to try them out, from all over the world!! People all over the world really, really love me!  They do!

One thing I will warn you is that when purchasing a Burgundian wine you really need to pay attention to how the vintage was (year).  Try consulting a guide like Robert Parker's (Vintage Guide) or find a reputable local wine retailer that your friend, that's a wine geek, recommends!  haha.  One note on the vintage guide, you are looking for the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits for the Burgundy Pinot's.  The growing conditions in France are not as consistent as California. A French Burgundy can be amazing one year and utterly disappointing the next year.  California Pinot's are more consistent although when purchasing a "higher end" wine it's still worth talking to someone about.

I have caused many people to claim their love for me or even claim that I am complex, hedonisitic, sex in a glass, like falling in love, romantic, and mysterious.  The writer himself, tells me me that I am, much like dating, well speed dating, since drinking a bottle doesn't last years, months etc, just one night, typically.  He also says that for him, I am mysterious, it takes a little bit of getting to know one another.  It's a courting, typically not too revealing at first, it's always changing, in the bottle, and even when it's let out of its prison to check out the world.  While flattered by all of this I remain humble and thankful that I am Pinot Noir.

Well... that was a short little teaser about me.  As I sit hanging on the vine (I should have already been picked, very late harvest this year) writing this I realize that my fate is near, the weather forecast for the area is in the 90's for the next couple days and I shall be picked soon, so long as the heat causes my sugars to jump.  I welcome death as a grape and relish the fact that I will soon be reborn as a wine but I will wait to smell fresh air again as I anticipate that I will sit in a bottle and develop myself over the next 5-10 years (if the buyer is smart).  Does the inevitability of my prison scare me?  No, because I know that in that time, once that cork is popped, I will be beautiful and the lucky people who get to enjoy me will be moved to tears, a celebration of life!  I look forward to this day and welcome my slumber.  Come buy me, age me, and let me out!!!!

Until that day,

- Pinot Noir