Weekend wine: Grey Pinot Noir
July 27, 2017
This is the first in a weekly series of features for anyone who is looking for an interesting wine to taste over the weekend. The featured wine this week is Viña Ventisquero’s Grey Pinot Noir 2015 from Las Terrazas Vineyard in Chile’s cool-climate and very trendy Leyda Valley.
Pinot Noir is a wine that inspires strong emotions in wine drinkers – for some a good Pinot is the pinnacle of wine bliss, the bottle they’d choose for their last meal or to celebrate a special occasion. Not for nothing is red Burgundy one of the most expensive wines in the world. For others, it’s a wishy washy wine with some insipid strawberry jam notes, often intermingled with some seriously funky aromas. And of course they are both right: that’s the Pinot Noir experience all over – try one and you’re in love; try another and it’s the biggest letdown you can imagine. Why? Because it’s a fiddly grape that’s really hard to get right. To find out why, check out this post.
Anyway, on to Grey Pinot Noir 2015. This is a serious attempt at Pinot Noir and it comes at a fair price. For a good quality Pinot like this, you can pay a lot more than the CLP$11,000 it retails at in Chile (GBP15.00 in the UK).
Food pairing
I enjoyed it with roast pork and roast vegetables last Sunday and they went really well together. This wine would also be fine with well-flavoured vegetarian dishes like oven bakes, as well as chicken or fish: Pinot Noir is nothing if not food-friendly.
Tasting note
An intriguing nose that starts with lots of fresh red fruit, like raspberries and cranberries. There’s that classic forest floor aroma characteristic of Pinots, together with a mineral note that is quite seductive. A subtle herbal touch (juniper perhaps) and just a touch of oak influence in some notes of sweet baking spice – the oak has been kept well in check so as not to overpower the fruit. Lovely, juicy, fresh acidity with light, silky tannins and light body. The alcohol is restrained too, at 13% ABV. This is definitely a wine for those who want a juicy, pleasant red that’s light on body and tannins.
More posts about Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir wine – love it or hate it?
Easy-drinking Chilean Pinot Noir