Pinot Noir is responsible for some of the world’s finest wines. Famed for producing the red wines of Burgundy and the Côte d’Or in particular, it is now widely grown in cool climates across Califonia and Oregon, and with increasing success in New Zealand. Although typically used to produce varietal wines, Pinot Noir makes a significant contribution in the wines of Champagne, where it is vinified as a white wine and blended with Cardonnay and Pinot Meunier. On the whole, fresh summer fruit of strawberries, raspberries and red cherries tend to be the identifying qualities, however richer versions express darker fruit including black cherries (kirsch), cherry cola, leather and violets to name a few.
Two hundred miles south east of Paris lies the famous and historic wine region, known in French as Bourgogne. The Cote d'Or, the heartland of the region, consists of two distinct sub-regions split on either side of the town of Beaune.The Côte de Nuits to the north, includes the famous villages of Vosne-Romanee, Gevrey-Chambertin, and Nuits-Saint-Georges and are known primarily for making red wine from Pinot Noir.Although The Côte de Beaune to the south still makes some magnificent reds (see Volnay and Pommard), white wine made from Chardonnay is the main focus. The most famous villages are Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault. Burgundy has three other important regions. The village of Chablis (exclusively Chardonnay) encompassing the region's most northerly vineyards. The Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais to south are quantitatively speaking more important. Agriculture is more diverse with a significant portion of the land devoted to livestock and arable farming.
The village of Flagey-Echezeaux is known for its two grand crus; Exchezeaux and the Grands-Echezeaux. Although the commune has premier cru and village level vineyards, they are bottled and sold as Vosne-Romanee. Like its neighbor the Clos de Vougeot, situated further down the hill, it is one of the largest grand crus in Burgundy. Due to the inevitable differences in geology and aspect with such a sizeable vineyard, style and quality does vary. While this maybe to a lesser extent than in Clos de Vougeot, finding the right producer is still key. It goes without saying that producers such as Domaine de la Romanee-Conti produce some of the finest, for slightly more affordable examples, growers Mongeard-Mugneret and Capitain Gagnerot produce some excellent values wines. The smaller, and often seen as superior, Grands-Echezeaux vineyard once owned by the Abbey of Citeaux, offers richer, more robust wines, delivering exceptional focus and concentration.
Red wine is wine made from dark-coloured grape varieties. The color of red differs based on the grapes variety or varieties used.Interestingly, black grapes yield a juice that is greenish-white. The actual red color comes from anthocyan pigments (also called anthocyanins) from the skin of the grape (exceptions are the relatively uncommon teinturier varieties, which produce a red colored juice). Most of the production centers around the extraction of color and flavor from the grape skin.
