Word: pinot
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Sauvignon Blanc was harvested in Marlborough a mere 30 years ago. Mild, fruity whites are what the country is most associated with, but the long-held perception that New Zealand's terroir isn't suited to reds has finally been overcome by a number of wineries producing world-class Pinot Noir. The silt-loam soils of New Zealand yield a Pinot Noir somewhere between the robust Australian reds beloved of influential American critic Robert Parker and the more complex Bordeaux wines. Some Kiwi wineries have even taken on the Australian stranglehold on Shiraz, or Syrah as it's sometimes called...
...CHARD FARM Established in 1987, Chard Farm, tel: (64-3) 442 6110, is one of the oldest wineries in the Central Otago region, and its Finla Mor Pinot Noir 2002 is one of the best we have tasted. Fragrant and full bodied, it has a warm, generous palate with concentrated fruit flavors and a long finish. Order it online, for $23 a bottle, at www.chardfarm.co.nz...
...could be more surprised by the sudden surge of Pinot interest than John Winthrop Haeger, author of the recently released--and well-timed--North American Pinot Noir (University of California Press), which details all aspects of the often moody grape and profiles 72 of the best American Pinot Noir producers. He devoted the past five years to exploring a wine that he felt was "a growing niche phenomenon" with a "healthy cult status. I thought Pinot Noir would never be mainstream. It wasn't ever going to be synonymous with red wine." But then came the film...
Wine expert Leslie Sbrocco, author of Wine for Women, finds it appropriate that Pinot is part of the courtship dance of the characters Miles and Maya in the film. "Pinot is one of those wines that absolutely grab your heart," she says. "It beats it up a little too, but once you've had an earthshaking bottle of Pinot Noir, you are never the same. Like a first love...
...this wine is so amazing, why hasn't it been more popular? "It's always been one of those cult grapes," says Kevin Zraly, vice president of wine for the Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group, noting that the great red Burgundies from France are 100% Pinot Noir. "But it's a grape that can't be mass produced." The Pinot vine's very specific growing requirements, including a long cool season, mark it as a difficult grape and make the gap between the highs and lows of its wines more significant than with other reds. "It can be like chasing...