What Is Pinot Noir? The Light Red That Goes With Everything
Pinot Noir is the lightest of the major red grapes - pale in the glass, low in tannin, and built on red fruit rather than black. If Cabernet Sauvignon is the big, structured red and Merlot is the soft middle, Pinot Noir is the one that behaves almost like a white wine at the table.
It is also the red that people who say they do not like red wine usually turn out to like. There is nothing to push through - no grip, no drying finish, no heaviness.
What does Pinot Noir taste like?
Cherry and raspberry first, then something earthier underneath - mushroom, damp forest floor, a little tea leaf. Good Pinot Noir smells more than it weighs. You notice the aroma before you notice any body.
Hold it up to the light and it is noticeably translucent. Next to a Cabernet it looks watered down, which puts some people off before they taste it. That paleness is the grape, not a fault. Pinot Noir has thin skins, and colour and tannin both come from skins.
| Pinot Noir | Merlot | Cabernet Sauvignon | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Pale, see-through | Medium ruby | Deep, opaque |
| Tannin | Low | Medium-soft | High, drying |
| Fruit | Cherry, raspberry | Plum, black cherry | Blackcurrant, cassis |
| Body | Light | Medium | Full |
| Best with | Chicken, salmon, mushrooms | Most meat | Steak, brisket |
Why is Pinot Noir expensive?
Because the grape is difficult. Thin skins mean it rots in rain and burns in heat. It buds early, which exposes it to spring frost. It ripens in a narrow window and punishes a grower who picks at the wrong moment. Yields are low even when everything goes right.
That is why there is not much cheap Pinot Noir anywhere, kosher or otherwise, and why the gap between a twenty dollar bottle and a forty dollar bottle is wider with this grape than with most. Under about fifteen dollars you are usually drinking something light and pleasant rather than something that tastes distinctly of Pinot Noir.
What food goes with Pinot Noir?
This is the grape's real argument for existing. Low tannin means it does not fight delicate food, and its earthiness lines up with mushrooms and roasted vegetables.
- Roast chicken - the classic, especially with herbs or mushrooms
- Salmon and richer fish - one of the few reds that genuinely works with fish
- Mushroom anything - soup, sauce, kugel
- Turkey and duck - light enough not to bury the bird
- Cold cuts and a kiddush spread - it drinks well without food too
What it does not do is stand up to a heavily spiced brisket or a thick steak. Send those to Cabernet. There is more on that in our guide to what wine goes with chicken.
Which kosher Pinot Noir should you buy first?
Starting out, under twenty dollars
Barkan Classic Pinot Noir at about fifteen dollars is the cheapest honest entry point - light, cherry-driven, easy. The Butcher's Daughter Pinot Noir at nineteen is a little more interesting for not much more money.
The sweet spot, twenty to thirty
Herzog Lineage Pinot Noir at twenty dollars is the one to hand someone who wants to know what the grape actually tastes like. O'Dwyers Creek Pinot Noir from New Zealand at thirty is brighter and more aromatic, and Goose Bay Small Batch Pinot Noir sits alongside it.
When it matters
Hagafen Napa Valley Pinot Noir at around forty-six dollars is the step up - more depth, more of that earthy character, and the bottle to open when the meal is the occasion. The full kosher Pinot Noir range sits alongside the wider kosher red wine selection.
How should you serve it?
Cooler than you would serve a Cabernet. Room temperature flattens Pinot Noir and makes the alcohol stick out. Twenty to thirty minutes in the fridge before pouring is right, especially in summer - you want it cool to the touch, not cold.
It does not need decanting and it does not need a long time open. Pour it and drink it. If you want the comparison against the other two big reds side by side, our guide to Cabernet Sauvignon vs Merlot vs Pinot Noir lays them out together.
