Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is the grape grown throughout Burgundy from which all the famous red Burgundies of the Cote d'Or are made. Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Pommard, Volnay are a few of the famous villages, but many good value wines can be found from the slopes surrounding the famous villages such as the Cotes de Nuits-Villages and Hautes Côtes de Beaune. Another area known for good quality Burgundies which don't break the bank is the Côte Chalonnaise, just to the south of the Côte d'Or.

At its best, the Pinot Noir is silky and seductive with wonderful perfumes of fruit in the younger wines, and exotic spices and undergrowth in older bottles. Young wines from the Côte de Nuits can be quite tannic, those from the Côte de Beaune and the Côte Chalonnaise less so, and with barrel ageing the resultant complexity can, with time, help give wines made from the Pinot Noir a fascinating balance - light and delicate yet at the same time powerful and complex. Gamey, farmyard flavours in the older wines call for something similar - pheasant or venison perhaps, but our own favourite is calves' liver.

Recommended Pinot Noir vineyards:
Côte de Nuits-Villages - Domaine Désertaux-Ferrand
Nuits-Saint-Georges - Domaine Dubois
Gevrey-Chambertin, Savigny-lès-Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru, - Domaine Jacob
Maranges, Hautes Côtes de Beaune - Domaine Chevrot
Givry 1er Cru - Domaine Ragot
Rully 1er Cru - Domaine Brelière
Mercurey 1er Cru - Domaine Pillot, Domaine Menand