Traveling Light Relay

The theme of GINI 15 is to compare cool-zone and moderate-zone Pinot Noirs.  The book Great Wine Made Simple¹, outlines what we can expect from the wine in different climate zone.  For the cool-zone, we have two bottles of Burgundy (same wine in fact, just different vintage), and for the moderate-zone, we have one from California and one from South Africa.

The Look
In terms of color, we were expecting the moderate-zone ones to be darker than the cool-zone ones.  However, that’s not the case for us; our Burgundy was darker and the New World ones have a lighter ruby color.  Notably the back label of the Burgundy has a comment of the wine having deep color, so it might be uncommon for Burgundy.

The Smell
Without a doubt, the Burgundy have strong scents of tangy berry.  It certainly taught us what to expect from the smell of Burgundy in the future.  As for the moderate-zone ones, they do have scents of berry or cherries, but definitely do not have the same bite as the Burgundy.  The book also points out that moderate-zone ones may have a bit of sweet oaky smell.  I wonder if that’s what it is when I thought it smelled “Californian”.

The Taste
Similar to the smell, the Burgundy have stronger, more spicy acidic taste.  The book uses the word “tangy”; I suspect it means strong and more intense taste.  The moderate-zone Pinot is more fruity and juicy.

From the rankings, I guess I prefer wine to be more fruity and juicy, while most of us prefer more spicy complex wine.  One strange thing happened in this tasting; quite a few of us were having trouble emptying our glasses, even though we all like the wine.  One of us even vomited.  I wonder if it is the “Fresh” fruit salad we had from that take out place.

1. Immer, Andrea. Great Wine Made Simple, New York, 2000. Pg 106 [back]