PINOT NOIR Flashcards
Burgundy: Côte de Nuits
Sight: light to medium ruby.
Nose: red fruits (cherry, raspberry, pomegranate, strawberry) with tea, floral, herb, and earthy complexity. With
age the wines take on gamey-farmyard-earthy complexities. Oak ageing adds smoke, vanilla, sweet spice and
wood notes to the wines, but usually only found in Premier Cru and Grand Cru.
Palate:
medium to medium-plus bodied
dry to bone dry.
Structure: alcohol: medium to medium-plus; acidity: medium-plus; tannin: medium-minus to medium.
Some winemakers use stems in the form of whole bunches. This may add a light camphor, aroma to the wines and firmer almost stalky tannins.
Often heavier than those from the CdB.
ID Keys: although deceptively light in colour the wines can be quite concentrated in flavour. Light-bodied,
supple, and elegant with bright red fruits (not black fruits!), tea-spice, earthy complexities, and new oak.
Burgundy: Côte de Beaune
Sight: light to medium ruby.
Nose: tart or ripe red fruits depending on the quality of the vintage; cherry, raspberry and cranberry are common. Pomegranate in riper years.Non-fruit aromas include black tea, rose floral, and clay/earth/mineral notes. As with wines from the Côte de Nuits, age can add gamey—savory-farmyard-earthy complexities. Oak ageing adds aromas of vanilla, baking spices and toast.
Palate:
medium-bodied
dry to bone dry.
Structure:
alcohol: medium to medium-plus; a
cidity: medium-plus;
tannin: medium-minus to medium.
Often lighter than those from the CdN (Pommard may be the exception).
ID Keys: generally, wines from the Côte de Beaune tend to be relatively earthier and softer in tannins than
those from the Côte de Nuits; they also tend to have less forward fruit, and are leaner
New World: California and Oregon
Sight: medium to deep ruby.
Nose: ripe red fruits (black fruits in warm vintages or regions), herb, floral, tea and more. A sweet Cola aroma may also be present. Oak ageing adds smoke, sweet spice and wood flavours. Whole bunch fermentation often used which will - reduce alcohol and colour (as stems absorb both), increase tannin, add a herbal savoury note similar to camphor (mothball).
Palate:
medium-minus to medium-plus bodied
dry.
Structure:
alcohol: medium to medium-plus;
acidity: medium to medium-plus;
tannin: medium to medium-plus.
ID Keys: supple red berry fruit, spices and new wood. Stem tannins often present but a relative lack of earthiness when compared to Burgundy.
New World: New Zealand
Sight: light to medium ruby.
Nose: red fruits—both fresh and dry with considerable herb, floral, tea and mineral/soil. Oak ageing adds smoke, sweet spice and woody flavours. Whole bunch aromas may be present.
Palate: medium to medium-plus bodied and dry.
Structure:
alcohol: medium to medium-plus;
acidity: medium to medium-plus;
tannin: medium to medium-plus.
ID Keys: New Zealand Pinots are similar in style to California and Oregon with its supple red fruit, spices and new wood qualities. However, the wines are distinct with their pronounced herbal aroma; many display a
chalky mineral quality
