Pinot Noir
Also known as Pinot Nero, Spätburgunder, Blauburgunder
Burgundy, France
A thin-skinned, notoriously fussy red variety from Burgundy that produces some of the world's most prized, aromatically complex wines when grown well.
Sensory profile
Characteristics
Flavor & aroma
At a glance
Production facts
Prevalence
Widely planted
Climate
Cool climate
Ripening
Early season
Wine styles
Still, Sparkling
Where it's grown
Geography
Shaded areas are the state, province or département(s) containing each region, so they run wider than the appellations themselves.
France
Burgundy
The grape's spiritual home; red Burgundy defines its aromatic, structured ideal.
Champagne
A key blending component, with Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier, in traditional-method sparkling wine.
United States of America
Oregon (Willamette Valley)
Cool-climate New World expression prized for its Burgundian restraint.
New Zealand
Central Otago
High-altitude, high-UV sites give bright, perfumed, structured Pinot Noir.
Waipara Valley
A signature grape of the valley, on limestone and stony river terraces.
Chile
Casablanca Valley
Cool coastal sites give fresh, red-fruited Pinot Noir, a growing part of the valley's range.
South Africa
Walker Bay (Hemel-en-Aarde)
The Hemel-en-Aarde valley is South Africa's best-known address for Pinot Noir.
Background
Origin & History
Pinot Noir is one of the oldest cultivated grapes in Europe, with claims of Roman-era ancestors that cannot be proven, and clear documentation from the medieval monasteries that painstakingly mapped Burgundy's vineyards by soil and exposure — the beginnings of the region's obsession with terroir. Genetically unstable, it mutates readily, giving rise to a huge number of clones and closely related varieties (including Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc), which is part of why no two Burgundy vineyards ever taste quite the same.
For centuries it barely left Burgundy and Champagne, but the 20th century saw growers chase its cool-climate magic further afield — to Germany as Spätburgunder, and later to Oregon, California's Sonoma Coast, and New Zealand's Central Otago, all sites cool enough to preserve the grape's prized acidity and perfume.
Lineage
Family tree
Parentage not recorded — Pinot Noir is an old variety of unknown origin. Click a related grape to explore its own lineage.