Pinot noir

Vine variety: Pinot Noir (Blauer Spätburgunder)

Mother: unknown
Father: unknown
Year of breeding: one of the oldest varieties, documented from the 4th century in Burgundy

Country of origin: France
Breeder/License holder: clone producers
Number of clones: a very large number (French, German etc)
Clones and selection massales - some thoughts from a French vine nursery.
Information on French clones and German clones.

Area planted in Germany (July 2006): 11,660 hectares, 11.4% of the total vineyard area.
Area planted in England (as at August 2004): 49.1 hectares, 6th largest

Wine Character - colour: ruby red
- bouquet: fine
- palate: fine, fruity, velvety, hints of almonds, low in tannin
Noble wine, 'the best red wine in the world'. Aromas and flavors often detected in varietal wines include cherry, mint, raspberry, truffles and the ubiquitous gamey odor in new wines often referred to as "animalé" by the French winemaker.

Time of bud-burst: middle-late

Strength of growth: medium-strong, fairly upright (some clones are more upright)
Growth of side-shoots: medium-strong

Flowering time: late
Flowering strength: high (a high stem helps to maximise flowering strength)

Leaf: - size: medium (dark green)            - shape: round, weak 3-lobed to 5-lobed
        - colour:
        - surface undulation: low-medium    - petiolar sinus: V-shape, open

Grape bunch: - size: medium                   - density: tight (some clones are loose)
Berries:        - size: medium                   - shape: round to oval
                   - skin colour: dark blue-red to violet-red, thin skinned

Time of veraison: middle-early to late
Time of harvest: middle (a first selection of the ripest grapes) and middle-late (the rest)

Grape yield: medium
Must-weight: medium-high (needs to be over 80 Oe to make a really good red wine)
Must-acidity: high

Wood ripening: good
Winter hardiness: medium-good
Wood colour: grey-brown, dark striped and flecked

Chlorosis resistance:
Susceptibility to - Oidium: medium           - Peronospora: medium
                       - Botrytis: medium          - Roter Brenner:
                       - Phomopsis                   - Stem-atrophy:

Preferred soil: fertile, warm, loose, deep, not dry; not clay
Suitable rootstocks: SO4, 3309, Fercal, 161-49, Binova in normal soils; 5C and 125AA in strong growing soils, 5BB is not suitable.

Normal stem height: 0.7 to 0.8m, a high stem is advantageous
Normal row spacing: 1.8 to 2.0m, wide planting helps to avoid berry rot
Vine spacing in the row: wide, to avoid berry rot

Winter Pruning: eyes/buds per sq. metre of land occupied by the plant.

Advantages: Noble red wine of high repute. Relatively low susceptibility to disease. Also makes excellent Rosé and Sparkling Wine.

Disadvantages: Needs a good site. Birds love it.

Advice: With Pinot Noir clones the 'strength' against fungus attack by botrytis cinerea plays a very significant roll. When desiring to produce a high value red wine the percentage of grapes affected by botrytis cinerea must be less than 5% of the grapes processed. Pinot Noir wines are extremely sensitive to the phenoloxydase LACCASE, an enzyme that is excreted from the botrytis cinerea fungus. It is responsible for maturation affects (unpleasant ageing/maturation tones, nuts, over-ripe plums, glue...) and for yellowing.

Other notes: Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte D'Or. Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte D'Or.

Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey 'sous-bois' nuances emerging.

The best wines are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir's key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.