Pinot noir

What's the next story, Jane?

Next up, researchers have found that differences in Pinot Noir grape chemistry between two vineyards were associated with soil pH, manganese, and the bacteria living around vine roots.

The study, which was published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, found that changes in soil conditions and rhizophare bacterial communities tracked with differences in amino acids and phenolic compounds in the grapes.

Rather than identifying a single cause, the researchers found a network of linked factors, including soil pH, cation exchange capacity, exchangeable manganese and bacterial community structure.

The findings add to growing research into how conditions beneath the vines may help explain why grapes from different vineyards can develop distinctive chemistry.

Amino acids are important for yeast fermentation, while phenolics influence colour, bitterness and astringency.

Although the study covered only two Pinot Noir vineyards, the researchers suggest that combining soil and microbial measurements could eventually improve precision viticulture and help growers better understand the factors shaping fruit composition.

We know wines from different locations can sometimes taste different.

I worked on Seneca Lake for a family winery called Lakewood Vineyards, the Stamp family.

At World of Pinot Noir, I

met this, that's where I first learned about Finger Lakes, Pinot Noir, and this really intricate place where they're growing and really struggling to grow.

But some great Pinot Noir comes from there.

And this place was called, I think, Heart and Hands.

And it was a medical doctor who was just doing this on the side.

In champagne, you have one white grape.

We have basically three grapes in champagne, two black grapes, Pinot Noir and the Pinot Meunier.

Pinot Noir is very well known, of course, around the world.

You have Pinot Noir produced in many countries, in the US, in New Zealand.

just to mention those two countries and you have one white which is the Chardonnay.

Chardonnay is of course well known all around the world because many people are used to order for instance a glass of Chardonnay as an aperitif or something like this.

So indeed, if you start with a brewed non-vintage, I think it's a good way for me to start because this is the basics.

After, what can be interesting indeed, Based on that, is to see what sort of style you like in terms of grapes.

It doesn't matter where you plant it.

We want to be selling Pinot Noir.

We want to be selling Pinot Gris.

We want to be selling Sauvignon Blanc.

And I guess it speaks to how broad brush some of our GIs are.

Because, you know, up there, I think...

You know, you can produce some of the country's finest Pinot Noir.

Down on the floor, I think the variety in terms of reds, which is really shining at the moment, is actually Gamay.

I think it's one of the things that is exciting to me is that it's really easy to see where people have made natural affiliations into where New Zealand whiskey flavours develop and those pathways.

So lots of Central Otago Pinot Noir cask in the market, that traditional kind of ex-Sherry cask happening.

Then, you know, up north, Pocono doing interesting things with native timber finishing and looking at some of those other experiments.

But looking at just...

Yes.

Is it A, Chardonnay; B, Pinot noir; C, Sauvignon Blanc; or D, Riesling?

[sighs] Okay.

Pinot noir I know, um, excels in the Yarra Valley and coastal places where you get colder air coming from, uh, you know, the, the sea.

So I would say that that is less versatile.

Yep, good reasoning.

We're going to taste two wines on today's show.

We've got 2020 Pinot Noir.

We'll try at the beginning.

And then at the end, we're going back to 19 Primitivo Reserve.

We're also gonna discuss my fun segment, fan favorite segment, makes sense in Spanish, it doesn't make sense in Spanish.

We're gonna talk about misconceptions of wine in terms of tonnage, yield, does low tonnage equal high quality? Is there a relation to any of this? People discuss this all the time and I'm gonna give you my two cents about that.

All right, well let's begin by trying Pinot Noir.

Valeria and Jeff got some in their glass right now.

It tastes

like Pinot Noir, but like...

I thought you loved it.

Elevated.