Recently, according to wine stores sales reports, demand is rising for fresh, light, easy-drinking reds then bold, powerful ones, and sparkling wines like Prosecco, but besides all, in this group of light wines, pinot noir is a shining star without a doubt. We can't ignore these grapes' astounding wine's popularity, it has always been like this from the beginning of the written history of wine. contribution of the increasing quality of rose wines to this trend change.
Instead of the pinot noirs most famous producing regions like Burgundy, France, wine lovers have begun to explore new, small or lesser-known areas, mostly from the new world. Moreover, consumers' attention has shifted to organic, biodynamic, or clean wines and this trend change has worked well with pinot noir because most of these grape wines could be ready for early drinking and this prevents using heavy chemicals to preserve wine.
When I visit a wine store, recently I started to see lower alcohol wines in front of many wines. Although the demand is increasing for lower alcohol wines, it's getting harder to produce these wines due to climate change. This is the primary natural factor that will greatly affect wine trends in the near future. Winemakers face drought or harsh climate conditions, so they are looking for new varieties that are less prone to diseases and new regions to adjust themselves to climate change. But pinot noir is very lucky at this point and seems to have a good fate in terms of climate change because it has really very adaptive clones to climate.
At this point, pinot noir is not the most widely planted wine grape, it has only %2.35 area within wine grapes. But why this so loved and graceful grape for many wine lovers have this very low-growing area?
This grape's most crucial feature is its difficulty in growing and vulnerability to climatic conditions, agricultural pests, diseases, very picky about the land, and also prone to oxidation during winemaking.
It is a thin-skinned grape that makes it vulnerable with its low level of phenolic compounds, but that's also why Pinot Noir wines have a charming ruby color and low tannin. Despite its low tannin, well-aged pinot noirs could be velveted and pleasant. It was thought to have a relation with Tempranillo once, but there is no genetic link apart from aroma profile similarity.
Pinot Noir demands a cool climate to make an elegant and complex wine with a silky texture and loses in finesse in warmer temperatures and can reflect any subtle differences on terroir. Legendary Burgundy Pinot Noirs wine stands as the most expensive wine in the world, but also Oregon and California have gained the reputation, and the Champagne region without a doubt.
Its bright acidity and finesse make it the perfect partner for many dishes. The best aroma descriptors are the raspberry, cherry, strawberry, vegetal notes, truffle, and forest ground scents with age.
There isn’t a more romantic description than Miles' Pinot Speech in the movie Sideways which increased the Pinot Noir's US sales by more than 30% and also the price of course, unlike merlot: "it's a hard grape to grow, as you know. Right? It's uh, it's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It's, you know, it's not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and uh, thrive even when it's neglected. No, Pinot needs constant care and attention. Do you know? And in fact, it can only grow in these really specific, little, tucked away corners of the world. And, and only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot's potential can then coax it into its fullest expression. Then, I mean, oh its flavors, they're just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and... ancient on the planet."
If I still haven't been able to tell you exactly how much people like it, let me give you an example. Some online wine stores seller guides design their wines description with the wines similarity with pinot noir; “This wine is easy drinking as a pinot noir”. Or let’s gear up, some local and new grape varieties become popular only with its similarity with pinot noir, for example, Turkish local wine grape “Kalecik Karasi” is sold in UK restaurants and wine stores as “Turkish Pinot”.
But is this easy-drinking, light, and graceful grape only popular among romantic wine lovers? When we search the online wine stores seller statistics, pinot noir customers contrary to what is predicted, the ratio of consumer’s gender is almost equal. Or when we look at the proportion of those who voted on online platforms, the answer leads us to the same conclusion. Even we know that good wine is always good regardless of its grape or region, this grape is has a real reputation among wine lovers.
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