Germans call pinot noir spatburgunder, literally late ripening red Burgundy, as opposed to early ripening Burgundy (fruhburgunder) version, which they also plant, but use it for blending only.

We know that Cistercian monks from Switzerland planted the first pinot noir. German Duke Berthold IV of Zehringen brought the vines to Germany and asked the good monks to plant them. The Cistercian monks’ order originates in Citeaux, Burgundy, and they were responsible for much of the good work accomplished in Burgundy with regard to establishing the best soil types, best sites and vitivinicultural practices at that time.

The Cistercian monastery in Malterdingen was founded in 1161. Vineyards on calcareous soils surrounded it with this capricious, thin-skinned, and late ripening variety. By all accounts, this vineyard still produces outstanding pinot noir in Germany.

The first large-scale plantings in Germany occurred in 1285, and now the country has 12 000 hectares spatburgunder vineyards third after Burgundy, France, and the U S A.

Before 1970, the Ahr Valley in northerh Germany had exclusively pinot noir vineyards that produced very pale, and delicate wines. Climate changes made german vienaydrs a little warmer, resulting in much better and better-balanced spatburgunder wines.

Today, the Rheigau, 200 km. East of Cote d’Or, harvests spatburgunder only five to seven days later than in Burgundy, and growers wait until grapes acquire sufficiently high sugar levels to quality for spatlese (late harvest) quality. In German wine law, quality is linked to natural sugar content ogf the fruit.

Wurttemberg and the Ahr Valley produce more red wine than white, and they are getting better at vinifying.

Kaiserstuhl on the east bank of the Rhine River is potentially and excellent region for pinot noir, and more and more wineries including co-operatives are producing pinot noir. Many of the young winemakers are university educated (Geisenheim, or Montpellier, or Dijon, or the U S A) and serve a “specialization” stint to Burgundy to learn from more experienced winemakers.

Recently, I tasted pinot noir from Rheigau that could be mistaken for a high-end red Burgundy, and the best thing about these wines is that they cost a fraction of their brethren from Burgundy.

Here are some producers that excel in making spatburgunder:Rainer Schnaitmann (Unterturkheim); Klaus-Peter Keller, (Dalsheim, Rheinhessen); August Kesseler (Rheingau); Fritz Becker, (Palatinate); Paul Furst (Franconia); Bernard Huber, Rainhold Scheider (Baden); and Werner Knipser (Palatinate).

All of the above are small quality-oriented, if not obsessed, wineries, and rarely export to Canada.

If you happen to be in Germany and close to the region, book an appointment with any of the wineries and taste their wines. You will be pleasantly surprised.

There are two more red grape varieties that deserve mention dornfelder, (a cross of helfensteiner itself a cross between fruhburgunder and trollinger, and Heroldrebe, a cross of blauer portugieser and lemberger), is a red-fleshed grape yielding dark red juice. It is an early ripening variety, crossbred by August Herold in 1955 at Wurttemberg’s Weinsburg Institute.

Regent is a relatively new hybrid of Diana (silvaner and Muller-Thurgau) and chambourcin. It resists fungal diseases and downy mildew, and was created by professor Gerhard Alleweldt at the Geilweilerhof Institute in 1967, but was only released in 1996.

Lemberger (a.k.a blaufrankisch in Austria, kekfrankos in Hungary) is widely planted. It is dark-skinned, ripens late, contains high levels of tannins, and yields fruity, spicy and masculine wines. Planted in Wurttemberg (Germany), Austria, the U S A, New Zealand, Switzerland, Australia and Italy.

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Long celebrated for its fine sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and pinot gris, New Zealand is now turning heads with its pinot noir, merlot and blends.

Standing apart from most New World wine regions, the climate is cooler and winemakers approach the craft definitively with 21st century technology and mentality. They create red wines that harmonize traditional elegance with contemporary tastes, and wine enthusiasts the worlds over have decided to enjoy them.

New Zealand vineyards get plenty of sunshine but are considerably cooler than those in Australia due to the ocean surrounding both islands. Vineyards are scientifically planted, and managed to yield the best quality fruit possible.

Winemakers aim to produce high quality, because the output is small and must offer an incentive to consumers to buy. Prices are reasonable.

New Zeeland’s pinot noir wines are closer in style to Burgundy red than elsewhere in the world. The cool maritime climate imparts bright acidity, with cherry, berry, plum and pomegranate flavours.

Central Otago in the south island has a short time, become the centre of New Zealand pinot noir production, but central Otago is not the only region that excels in pinot noir. Nelson, adjacent to Marlborough, also produces fine pinot noir wines.
Merlot from Hawkes Bay in the north island is full-bodied, always well balanced, fruit-driven and elegant. They are very approachable in their youth, but can also be cellared for a few years.

Syrah is the “new” red grape of New Zealand, and Hawkes Bay has already been recognized to produce some of the best in the land. Elephant Hill, a German-owned and managed winery, produced northern Cotes du Rhone style syrah that is remarkable.

Here are the red wines of this year’s New Zealand tasting in Toronto:

Pinot Noir, 2006, Carrick, Central Otago
Complex aromas of dark fruit flavours with bitter chocolate overtones. The finish is long an satisfying.
$ 35.95 available at Vintages

Pinot Noir, 2006, Schubert, Martinborough
This small, family-operates winery’s pinot noir can be favourably compared to any Cote de Beaune 1er cru. It is brilliant in colour, smells of strawberries, tastes “juicy” and in the mouth reveals a layered texture.
92/100

Merlot, 2007, Ngatarawa Stables, Hawkes Bay
Easy drinking, mid-weight crimson-coloured, smells of berries, and displays spicy flavours.
90/100
Available at Vintages

Merlot, 2007, Coopers Creek, Hawkes Bay
This brilliant wine includes 12 per cent malbec, is fruity (raspberry and plum) and complex, with fine tannins.
89/100

Syrah, 2008, Elephant Hills, Hawkes Bay
From a new German-owned and managed winery, this syrah seduces the nose with pepper and fruit aromas, buttressed with refined tannins and pleasant acidity.
91/100
$ 28.95
Agency HHD Imports info”hhdimprots.com

Soultaker Pinot Noir, 2007, Gibbotson Highgate Estate, Central Otago
An excellent example of a fine pinot noir. Smells of strawberries dominate. Full bodied, dark, nuanced and long in the finish.
90é100
$ 45.00
Agent : laura.higgins”simpatico.ca

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Felton Road Pinot Noir 2007.

Felton Road is one of New Zealand`s best producers. Located in Bannockburn, Central Otago, its vineyards nestle on a gentle north-facing slope between 200m and 335m and overshadowed by 2,000m mountains, their micro-climate benefits from low humidity, wide diurnal temperature variation and high sunshine hours.

This wine is among the 50 best new world pinot noir and the palate displays a plush, cushioned silkiness, with interplay of juicy, mouthwatering acid and ripe, rich raspberry and boysenberry fruit, offset with dusty bramble leaf. The finish is long and relatively complex for such a youthful wine, displaying minerals with dusty tannin and a kick of mocha and we absolutely love it!

Have you tasted this or another wine, you are welcome to add a dice/review in our wine guide
Winesworld.

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PINOT NOIR.

The true pinot noir is one of the unmitigated joys of the experienced taster… it has a distinct penetrating taste… a definite silky texture… among the dearest wines known, possessing a smoothness which by comparison makes some of the other great red wines of the world rough… wines of great breed and distinction, great power.
Dr. M. Amerine and A J Winkler

The much admired and venerable pinot noir is wholly responsible for the truly great red wines of Burgundy, specifically of Côte d’Or, a strip of land barely 70 km long and approximately 800 meters wide.
The best vineyards have a southeastern exposure and the very best are located on 300 – 400 meters above sea level of this generally cool-climate region.
Pinot noir yields, if grown on the “right terroir” (rich in minerals, soils mixed with chalk and pebbles and which drain well) are sensual, transparent, whereas cabernet sauvignon the venerable grape of Bordeaux appeals to the “head”.
There are very few grape varieties capable of reflecting “terroir” and pinot noir is one of them Outside Côte d’Or it may yield fine wines, if the soil and climate are suitable, but never great or extraordinary libations as in Burgundy.
Pinot noir has thin skin, tends to mutate easily, is prone to a variety of diseases, is low in tannins, and never responds well to over cropping.
Entire books have been written on pinot noir and both Montpellier and Dijon research stations have devoted considerable effort to creating clones with desirable characteristics, but best red Burgundy wines come from vineyards planted to selection massal, that means, roughly, as nature intended. Some of the clones on such vineyards are disease resistant; others yield fine fruit even in poor growing seasons, yet others may have high yields with good quality. Overall the balance is left to mother nature.
Recently, a team of French and Italian scientists have mapped the genome of pinot noir and determined that it has 30,000 genes, more than the human genome of 20, – 25,000. Genes create flavour and in the case of pinot noir 100 different genes seem to be dedicated to producing tannins and terpenes while other grapes have 50 or less.

Flavour depends much on terroir, but pinot noir possesses all on its own a huge range of aromas and flavours. Burgundy connoisseurs have known for centuries about the seductive and extraordinary flavours of this temperamental grape, and spared no effort to obtain the most famous bottles from single vineyard (grand cru) and communes with worldwide reputations for quality.
Pinot noir is the first, and so far, the only grape variety whose DNA and genome have been fully studied for over two years.
Growers, winemakers and connoisseurs regard pinot noir as the most difficult and fickle of all red wine grapes. When fully ripe, it yields flirtatious, voluptuous, hedonistic, beguiling, silky, seductive, “juicy” and sumptuous wines. It can be delicate, mysterious, indescribable and utterly delicious. Some of the most profound wine experiences transpire over a glass of well-made pinot noir.
This cool climate grape is vulnerable to frosts, and its thin skin is prone to rot in damp weather.
When overripe it tastes neutral, even insipid. It likes well drained, lime stone rich soils and is extremely sensitive even to the strain of yeast used for fermentation.
When pinot is from a successful vintage and made by an experienced and caring winemaker it is unequalled.
Pinot noir has now been planted in many other regions of France including the Loire Valley, Languedoc and Roussillon.
Ontario, British Columbia, Oregon, California, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Romania, and Spain have all vineyards planted to pinot noir. In Oregon, Ontario, southern Argentina, New Zealand, and Tasmania in Australia yields extraordinary wines, which are sought in many countries.
In Ontario Clos Jordanne produces extraordinary pinot noirs, as does Konzelmann.
Oregon, New Zealand’s Otago, Marlborough, in Australia Tasmania and Yarra Valley in Victoria are well known for their fine pinot noirs.
The Champagne region in France has made fortunes using pinot noir in conjunction with chardonnay. Prince Edward County, approximately 150 km east of Toronto produces some outstanding pinot noir wines in very small quantities and can be acquired only from the winery.
Romans were the first to recognize how great pinot noir tastes and as early as first century A.D planted pinot noir as archeologists have been able to establish.
Bernard de Clairvoix, a Cistercian monk was the first to plant pinot noir in Germany, and which yield fine wines.
Pinot noir goes well with planked salmon, grilled or BBQ salmon, paella, roast pork tenderloin, roasted root vegetables, calf’s liver, soft cream cheeses, thin-crust pizzas, or veal scaloppini.
Pinot noir wines of successful vintages smell of forest mushrooms, barnyards and strawberries. They are succulent, elegant, multilayered in the mouth delicious after taste.
When buying red Burgundies one must take into consideration the vintage. The same applies to Oregon, Tasmania, and Ontario.
Here are some pinot noir wines that I find very compelling.

Chambolle-Musigny, 2002, Taupenot-Merme $ 53.95

Savigny Les Beaune, 2002, Chateau de Meursault $ 29.95

Mas Barras Pinot Noir, 2004, M. Torres, Chile 29.95
Mount Difficulty Pinot Noir, 2004, Otago, New Zealand $ 37.95

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