Susan McCraith – Master of Wine:
Deep in the cellars of a renowned domaine in Burgundy, surrounded by rows of sleeping oak casks, my colleague and I shuffled reverently behind the winemaker as we tasted from barrel to barrel. Pipette in one hand, he removed the bung from the top with the other and proceeded to dip the glass tube down into the deep red liquid, letting the wine slowly rise up inside, whereupon he placed his thumb over the top and withdrew the pipette. We darted our glasses forward not wishing him to waste a single drop of this precious liquid. “Merci,” I said, swirling the glossy liquid slowly around the glass – this was going to be one to savour. Nose in! Searching for the different nuances from the barrel before, was the fruit slightly riper, darker, lusher, more intense, more complex, more marked by the oak? Had this vineyard plot, just yards from the other but angled slightly differently to the sun and on higher ground, produced a tangibly different wine, despite being planted with the same clones at the same time and grown and vinified in exactly the same way? Let’s taste… Analyse the acidity, the tannins, the weight, the concentration, the length. Then go to another level, what’s this wine telling me? So similar, yet this has an extra dimension, a clarity, an almost rainwater purity, like a direct thread of sunshine and rainwater channelled through the vine straight into this mouthwatering wine.
That’s what Pinot Noir can do. Treated in the right way, it reflects where it is grown. It can produce simply thrilling wines, wines that make you really think. You see, I can get romantic when I think about Pinot Noir! But it doesn’t just produce the finest red wines in the world, it also produces strawberry-scented rosés and the clear juice is highly prized for sparkling wines both in Champagne (Bollinger is well known for using a high proportion of Pinot Noir) and the UK.
My best memories in over 30 years’ of tasting goodness knows how many wines, have been tasting young Pinot Noir direct from the barrel. Now, it is quite amazing that Pinot Noir is being made into red wines in the UK! I’ve got my fingers crossed that 2022 will be ripe enough that Woodchester will produce their Pinot Noir again. I’ve been to see the vines and I have to say they’re looking good...
So, on Pinot Noir day 18th August, there is much to celebrate. I’ve put together an enticing menu with wines containing Pinot Noir currently available from Woodchester Valley Vineyard so you can make a toast to Pinot Noir with every course:
Apéritif: Reserve Cuvée (49% Pinot Noir with Chardonnay and Meunier) with chicken liver pâté on toast
First course: Rosé Brut (82% Pinot Noir with Meunier) with teriyaki salmon kebabs
Main course: Atcombe Red (60% Pinot Noir with Regent) with black peppered rack of lamb
Cheese/pud: Pinot Rosé (early-ripening Pinot Noir Précoce) with goats’ cheese or strawberries, raspberries and cream
I’m looking forward to Jeremy being the next winemaker that I shuffle reverently behind, glass in hand…
