The Pinot Noir Craze Re-Ignites!

As most of you are probably aware, Pinot Noir is the hottest wine in America. In fact, you may have even heard of a movie where the main character continuously raves on and on about Pinot Noir (or just “Pinot”). If you want to be on the cutting edge of wine in America today, you need to be up-to-date on Pinot.

Ever since Sideways came out there has been a massive surge in the interest of Pinot, although contrary to popular belief it is still far behind Chardonnay and (gasp!) Merlot in total sales. A number of reasons have contributed to this, not the least of which is Pinot’s prohibitively high cost. With the rise of popularity in Pinot I deal more and more frequently with people asking for a great $12-$15 a bottle Pinot (or less), and while the boom in Australia, Spain, and South Africa has led to the large number of great values in many types of wine, Pinot is a notable exception. In Sideways Miles quite accurately observes that the grape will only grow in a handful of places around the world, and as a result there just isn’t that much of it, although I should note that certain opportunistic wine companies are now sourcing Pinot from regions that really shouldn’t be growing it.

So Pinot is expensive, but it certainly can be worth it. However, if you really want to experience all the magical elements of Pinot that have led to its popularity, which is deserved, then you really need to try French Pinot Noir, or Burgundy. Once upon a time at a wine conference discussing the difficulty of growing and vinifying Pinot Noir a famous wine writer said: “I’m sick and tired of everybody talking about how hard it is to make Pinot Noir. You know what’s hard to make? Burgundy. And it’s especially hard to make if you’re not in Burgundy.”

(I believe it was Clive Coates who said this, but I’m not positive)

Anyway, Burgundy is the true home of Pinot Noir. It is the only red grape grown in the region, and it is to many the greatest wine region in the world. The problem is it is also by far and away the most confusing and challenging wine region in the world. All red Burgundy, or Bourgogne Rouge, is Pinot Noir. But it is not that simple. Is it Gevrey-Chambertin, Eschezaux, Pommard, Morey St. Denis, Vosne-Romanee, or Chambolle-Musigny? Burgundy boasts more appellations than any other wine region in the world, and the dizzing array of names that flies at people when it comes to Burgundy often confuses or scares them. So the next time you come across a red wine from Burgundy take a deep breath and remember that first and foremost it’s a Pinot Noir.

Back to my main point, the next time you come across a bottle of red Burgundy you may also have some serious sticker shock. The 05 Burgundies are nearing their release, and since the wine boom in America really exploded this is the first time we have seen a “classic” vintage from Burgundy. As a result the prices on many of these wines have risen—in some cases modestly and in others quite dramatically. So the question is now quite simple: is it worth it?

I’m not going to pretend that I am in a position to pass judgment on that question, but I will offer up my opinions on the whole “great vintage” theory. Because of continuous trophy chasing by the American market (and I am speaking in exceptionally broad terms here) I think that before long great vintages will pretty much never be worth it when it comes to French wine. If you’re goal is to show off to everyone that you got a particular vintage of such-and-such then it will still be worth it, but the wine in the bottle will rarely justify the price.

Here in the US it has gotten to the point that we only buy French wine in the “great vintage” and pretty much ignore it otherwise (remember, I’m speaking in very broad terms here). Obviously some years offer winemakers better opportunities than others, but the increasingly dramatic price variances between “on vintages” and “off vintages” is much greater than the variance in the quality of wine, especially from the best producers. The reality is the American public is so caught up in having “only the best” that we pay an inflated price for the better years and ignore the more reasonable and approachable prices of the lesser years. Vintages that don’t generate drooling reviews from the critics are undersold at low prices and as a result the producers must recoup those losses in the vintages where acclaim is high. The general consumer market is all too happy to play this game.

So having said all that the reality is the wine media is pretty much doing backflips over the 2005 red Burgundies, and some well-placed people who I respect a great deal are acknowledging this is probably the best vintage for red Burgundies in at least 15 years. So will the wines be worth it? Well, I believe we will see some truly spectacular red wines, many of which will age very well and in 10-15 years (or maybe more) show all of the complexity and intrigue of great Pinot Noir. I also think we will see several producers—and importers, suppliers, etc—look to capitalize on the media revues and as a result we will see some price increases that aren’t really justified.

The end result? Get ready for more hype about Pinot, just this time it will be French Pinot. The fact is these are amazing wines and really should be more popular. The problem is a number of factors will result in the prices of these wines reaching unnecessary highs at the exact time more and more people are hearing about them.