Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is the king among red wines, but it is also winning more and more wine lovers as rosé wine and Weißherbst.
Cultivation
In the cooler wine-growing regions, Pinot Noir is the classic red wine variety from the Burgundy family. Pinot noir requires a lot of care from the winemaker and at the same time is very demanding in terms of climate and soil. Pinot Noir wines have a high quality potential and therefore offer the winemaker the opportunity to show his skills and score with successful and high-quality red wines. As a rose or Weißherbst, Pinot Noir is an upbeat summer or even patio wine. If the Pinot Noir grapes are pressed immediately after the harvest, the light juice develops into a white wine made from dark grapes (Blanc de Noir). This is relatively easy to do with this berry, as the flesh is light in color and the berry skin is dark.
Place value
In the overall world vine ranking, the Pinot Noir vine ranks tenth. Across Germany, about 11,602 hectares are planted with Pinot Noir, an increase of about 5,000 hectares since the mid-1990s. Rheinhessen currently has 1,480 ha* (5.4%) of Pinot Noir vines. In Harxheim, the percentage of Pinot Noir has remained largely the same over the past 20 years, amounting to 3.7 ha* (4.7%) of the existing vineyard area here.
Pinot Noir
Image source: Marion Schenk
Pinot Noir: Young shoots
Image source: Marion Schenk
History
Pinot Noir is also known as the king of red wines. His ancestry is still not clarified beyond doubt and is still intensively discussed in science. Even the genetic analyses that are now possible could not prove his ancestry beyond doubt. Thus, to this day, there are two different variants of origin: the descent from a wild (natural) cross between a Schwarzriesling and a Traminer or the direct descent from a wild vine (Vitis silvestris). However, genetic analysis clearly proves that the grape varieties have evolved naturally. It is possible that this is a very old grape variety, which has existed for 2000 years. Charles III (called the Fat) brought the variety to Lake Constance in 884. The first dates that can be considered reliable for Pinot Noir and are documented are in France in 1283 (Moreillon) and in the Rheingau in 1470 (Klebroth). Both names are synonyms for the Pinot Noir.
Pleasure
Wines from the Pinot Noir grape are velvety and full-bodied. They have a fruity bouquet and nuances of almond, chocolate or mocha, but also recall the scent of red fruits such as blackberry, cherry, strawberry to black currant. The aging in barrique barrels complements this with a slight vanilla note.
Red wines from the Pinot Noir grape are ideal with dark meat, wild fowl, game or even various cheeses. As a Weissherbst or Rose, it is the ideal food companion to starters or even white fish.
Status 05.01.2023, Red Grape Varieties Blauer Spätburgunder Rheinhessenwein 2023, https://www.rheinhessen.de/blauer-spaetburgunder
Pinot Noir German Wine Institute 2023 https://www.deutscheweine.de/wissen/rebsorten/rote-rebsorten/spaetburgunder/
Pinot noir-Wikipedia 2023, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinot_noir
Chamber of Agriculture Rhineland-Palatinate, EU vineyard register, status 2022
