The Heartbreak Grape

Pinot Noir is known as “The Heartbreak Grape”. For winemakers, it’s hard on the soil, young vines don’t produce decent wine, clonal selection is extremely important, it’s rarely consistent in character and is overall expensive to produce. It’s equally hard on consumers. When great, it can be a revelation, but far too often it ends up being mediocre and costing a pretty penny. Probably the most consistent in quality regions is Burgundy, France. Other smaller areas within Oregon, New Zealand, California, South Africa, Ontario and British Columbia, to name a few, do a favourable job. Unfortunately, once you’ve been bitten by the Pinot bug, you can spend a lot of time and money searching for good ones