Pinot Noir
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Pinot Noir is a red wine grape variety, considered to make some of the greatest wines. It reaches its peak in Burgundy wine, but is also used in the production of Champagne and is planted in most of the world's wine growing regions for use in both still and sparkling wines. Pinot Noir grown for dry table wines is generally low-yielding and often difficult to grow well. Pinot Noir grown for use in sparkling wines (e.g., Champagne) is generally higher yielding.
While Pinot Noir can vary dramatically, the wine tends to be of light to medium body with an aroma reminiscent of black cherry, raspberry or currant. Generally, Pinot Noir is produced as a red wine, although Pinot Noir is used in the production of most Champagne and some rosé still wines, and even occasional "vin gris" white wines.
Originally produced in France, in recent years Pinot Noir has become a popular grape in wines from, amongst other places, California, South Africa, the Okanagan Valley in Canada, New Zealand and Chile, with some of the best regarded coming from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, the Russian River Valley in California, and Martinborough, Waipara, and Central Otago in New Zealand. As a rule, the better pinot noirs are grown in climates at the colder end of the spectrum for wine growing.
The Pinot Gris grape is a mutant white clone of Pinot Noir. It is a grape variety that mutates very easily. In South Africa it has been spliced with the Cinsaut grape to make a unique variety Pinotage.
Pinot Noir was heavily featured in the 2004 film Sideways, leading to a spike in its popularity.
France
In France, and indeed the world, the archetype for pinot noir is that grown in Burgundy wine. Here it produces great wines which can age very well in good years, developing floral flavours as it ages, often reaching its peak 15 or 20 years after the vintage. Many of the wines are produced in very small quantities and can be very expensive, and many of the cheaper examples are not very good and do not give an indication of what great Burgundy can be like.
In Jura département, across the river valley from Burgundy the wines made from pinot noir are lighter.
In Champagne it is an important grape in the blend, although rarely used on its own. The style of Champagne labelled blanc de noir may use Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier grapes.
In Sancerre it is used to make red and rosé wines, much lighter in style that those of Burgundy, refreshing served chilled, especially in warmer years when they are less thin.
In Alsace it makes a light rosé wine, the only red wine produced there.
Germany
In Germany it is called Spätburgunder, and is now the most widely planted red grape. Historically much German wine produced from pinot noir was pale, often rosé like the red wines of Alsace. However recently, despite the northerly climate, darker, richer reds have been produced, often barrel (barrique) aged, in regions such as Pfalz and Ahr. These are rarely exported and are often very expensive in Germany for the better examples.
There is also a smaller-berried, lower yield variety called Frühburgunder which is grown in Franken, which can produce very good wines. It is thought to be a mutant clone of pinot noir.
Robert M. Parker, Jr. says in one of his books that German pinot noir tastes thin, like badly made Burgundy wine. While some examples may not be well made, many are, and are highly sought after.
While it is the most common red grape in Germany, much of the Spätburgunder is used to produce Sekt, German sparkling wine rather than red wine.de:Spätburgunderfr:Pinotja:ピノ・ノワール