Pinot Noir wine: eleven origins, one grape variety
199 bottles, from €11.50 to €330.00The section brings together Pinot Noirs from eleven countries, from €11.50 to €330.00, with a median of €49.90. France comes first, with cuvées that are all from Burgundy, ahead of the United States, New Zealand, Argentina, Australia, South Africa and Chile. Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Austria bring up the rear.
The first table compares six major origins, with what their climate does to the wine and the price range in our cellar. The second explains what each price tier really buys, from the fruit-driven cuvée at €12.50 to grand cru plots. Two points before choosing: a good part of the section is sold individually and the rest in packs, and a few bottles are sparkling wines in which Pinot Noir is part of the blend. The Burgundies are gathered in the Burgundy section.
Storm - Vrede Pinot Noir 2023
A hillside South African Pinot Noir, delicate and intensely savoury.
Escarpment - Pinot Noir 2021
A Martinborough Pinot Noir, at once fragrant, earthy and finely structured.
Escarpment - Noir Pinot Noir 2022
A fresh, supple and intensely fragrant Martinborough Pinot Noir. A lively, savoury expression of New Zealand terroir.
Au Bon Climat - Santa Barbara Pinot Noir 2023
A fine, balanced Californian Pinot Noir, between vivid fruit and earthy freshness.
Nyetimber - Tillington Single Vineyard 2014
A single-plot expression of Sussex, at once broad, fresh and subtly delicious.
Mac Forbes - Pinot Noir 2021
A Yarra Valley Pinot Noir all about finesse and freshness. Fruity, floral and subtly spiced.
Nyetimber - Rosé NV
A delicate English rosé, between red fruit and pastry notes.
Nyetimber - Cuvée Prestige 1086 rosé 2010
A high-precision English rosé, between intense red fruit and chalky elegance.
Nyetimber - Classic Cuvée NV
The elegance of English bubbles, between chalky freshness and toasty indulgence.
Mac Forbes - Coldstream Villages Pinot Noir 2020
An ample, precise Pinot Noir from Coldstream, where depth of fruit meets the freshness of the Yarra Valley.
Hahn - Pinot Noir 2021
A juicy, balanced Californian Pinot Noir, where coastal freshness highlights vibrant fruit and silky tannins.
Errázuriz - Aconcagua Costa pinot noir 2022
A Chilean coastal Pinot Noir combining maritime freshness, aromatic finesse, and elegance on the palate.
Cristom - Paul Gerrie 2021
A precise and elegant Pinot Noir from Eola-Amity Hills, combining freshness, aromatic depth, and a silky texture.
Cristom - Mt Jefferson 2021
A precise and vibrant Oregon Pinot Noir, where the coolness of the climate marries with a silky and deep texture.
Cristom - Marjorie 2021
A Pinot Noir from an iconic parcel in the Eola-Amity Hills, combining aromatic finesse and elegant structure.
Cristom - Louise Vineyard 2021
A volcanic hillside Pinot Noir combining aromatic finesse, freshness, and textural depth.
Cristom - Jessie 2019
A Pinot Noir from Eola-Amity Hills combining aromatic depth, freshness, and textural precision.
Cristom - Eileen 2021
A high-altitude Pinot Noir from the Eola-Amity Hills, combining freshness, aromatic depth, and a silky texture.
Escarpment - Te Rehua Pinot Noir 2022
A precise and elegant Martinborough Pinot Noir, where fruit depth meets a silky texture and a beautiful length.
Escarpment - Pahi Pinot Noir 2022
A precise and profound Pinot Noir that elegantly expresses the freshness of Te Muna Road.
Escarpment - Kiwa Pinot Noir 2022
A precise and elegant Pinot Noir, expressing with intensity the freshness and depth of Te Muna Road.
Au Bon Climat - Sanford & Benedict Pinot Noir 2021
A precise and profound cool-climate California Pinot Noir that marries aromatic elegance with a silky texture.
Au Bon Climat - La Bauge au-dessus 2021
A Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir combining coastal freshness, aromatic finesse, and a silky texture.
Au Bon Climat - Knox Alexander 2020
A precise and elegant cool-climate Californian Pinot Noir, where the fruit's finesse meets the depth of the coastal terroir.
Au Bon Climat - Isabelle Pinot Noir 2021
A cool-climate Californian Pinot Noir, combining aromatic finesse, balance, and depth.
Elizabeth Spencer - Pinot Noir 2022
A precise and elegant Californian Pinot Noir, combining freshness, aromatic finesse and a silky texture.
Seresin Estate - Rachel 2016
A precise and elegant Marlborough Pinot Noir, where the freshness of the oceanic climate meets a silky and profound texture.
Seresin Estate - Momo Pinot Noir 2023
A Marlborough Pinot Noir combining precise fruit, freshness and textural finesse.
Blank Canvas - Settlement Vineyard 2020
A precise and elegant Marlborough Pinot Noir, where maritime freshness meets fruit depth.
Blank Canvas - Escaroth Vineyard 2020
A precise and elegant Marlborough Pinot Noir combining pure fruit, freshness and textural finesse.
Blank Canvas - Element Vineyard 2019
A precise and fresh New Zealand red, where the fruit's finesse meets the elegance of a maritime terroir.
Blank Canvas - Anthem Vineyard 2019
A precise and elegant New Zealand red, where the freshness of Marlborough’s climate meets the depth of the Anthem Vineyard terroir.
The same grape under six climates
Pinot Noir is thin-skinned, ripens early and copes poorly with heat: it is the red grape variety that most faithfully expresses where it grows. The product pages for these bottles all say the same thing under different names: a source of coolness that slows ripening. It may be the ocean in Marlborough and Walker Bay, altitude in Gualtallary, the shadow of a volcano and glacial streams in Chile, or simply latitude in Burgundy. The table sets six origins side by side, with the actual price range and a benchmark bottle.
| Origin | What the climate does to the wine | In our cellar | A reference bottle |
|---|---|---|---|
| BurgundyRully, Mercurey, Savigny, Volnay, Nuits-Saint-Georges | Continental climate and short summers. Ripeness is just achieved; the wine plays on fresh cherry and tension rather than power. Prices follow the hierarchy of appellations, from regional to grand cru. | From €19.90 to €199.90, median €39.90 | Cachat-Ocquidant, Bourgogne Pinot Noir, €21.00 |
| California and OregonMonterey, Sonoma Coast, Russian River, Willamette Valley | Valleys open to the Pacific. Sea breezes and wide day-night temperature swings give riper fruit and a round texture, on well-drained gravel and alluvial deposits. | From €16.50 to €129.60, median €91.90 | Calera, Pinot Noir, €39.60 |
| New ZealandMarlborough, Martinborough, Bannockburn | Cool maritime climate, Pacific winds and wide temperature swings, on gravels and silts from ancient river terraces. Clean red fruit, lively acidity, fine tannins. | From €18.00 to €156.00, median €53.10 | Clos Henri, Waimaunga Pinot Noir, €45.00 |
| South AfricaHemel-en-Aarde, Walker Bay, Elgin | The cold bays of the South Atlantic, complemented by the high-altitude slopes of Elgin. Clay-shale soils and decomposed sandstone, retained acidity and a tight palate. | From €18.50 to €184.00, median €49.90 | Creation, Pinot Noir, €30.40 |
| Chile and ArgentinaMaule, Talinay, Uco Valley, Patagonia | Two ways of seeking out the cold: the limestone coast of Talinay and the shadow of the volcano in Maule on the Chilean side, Andean altitude on the Argentinian side, up to nearly 1,500 metres in Gualtallary. | From €11.50 to €330.00, Chilean median €22.15 | Matetic, El Viejo del Valle, €12.50 |
| AustraliaMornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley, Murray Darling | The Southern Ocean on the Mornington Peninsula, the Bass Strait in the Yarra Valley. Clay-silt soils with volcanic influences, long ripening, ripe fruit without heaviness. | From €11.50 to €85.00, sold in packs | Ten Minutes by Tractor, 10X Pinot Noir, sold in packs |
Four countries complete the section with nine bottles. Switzerland offers four cuvées from the Valais, from the terraces of Fully held up by dry-stone walls, from €85.75 to €133.00. Germany has three, from the Pfalz to southern Baden, where limestone and marl dominate, from €19.90 to €84.00. Austria contributes a red blending Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch and Pinot Noir, Italy a vintage prosecco rosé in which Pinot accompanies Glera, at €13.90.
Six sections to choose by origin
These six sections cover most of the list. The Australian cuvées, sold in packs, and the Swiss, German, Italian and Austrian bottles complete it. For each, availability as single bottles is shown, to avoid surprises when you reach your basket.
Burgundy
From €19.90 to €199.90, with a median of €39.90. It is the easiest section to read, from regional appellation to grand cru, and virtually all its bottles are available individually.
From €19.90 to €199.90United States
From Monterey to the Willamette Valley, from €16.50 to €129.60. The median rises to €91.90, the highest in the section, with Cristom, Calera and Au Bon Climat as the most represented estates.
From €16.50 to €129.60New Zealand
From Marlborough, Martinborough and Bannockburn, from €18.00 to €156.00. Felton Road, Blank Canvas and Escarpment are the best represented, and some of the bottles are available individually.
From €18.00 to €156.00South Africa
From €18.50 to €184.00, with most cuvées from the Hemel-en-Aarde valley. Crystallum and Creation are the best represented, from the Pinot at €30.40 to Bouchard Finlayson's Tête de Cuvée at €184.00.
From €18.50 to €184.00Chili
From €11.50 to €79.90, with a median of €22.15. This is the entry point to the section, with a good share of cuvées under €20.00, between the limestone coast of Talinay and the Andean valleys.
From €11.50 to €79.90Argentina
From €15.50 to €330.00, between the high-altitude vineyards of the Uco Valley and Patagonia. Domaine Nico is the best represented, with the most expensive cuvée in the whole section.
From €15.50 to €330.00
Four price levels, and what they really buy
The median of the section is €49.90, and two bottles out of three are between €20.00 and €80.00. What the price buys is not primarily the country but the degree of selection: a cuvée blended from a wide area or a named plot, the sorting, the proportion of whole-bunch fruit, the length of barrel ageing. Here is what each level brings.
| Level | What the prize pays for | In our cellar | A reference bottle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under €20 Upfront fruit, to drink within two years | Varietal cuvées made in tanks, destemmed, with little or no oak. Here Pinot gives raspberry, cherry and supple tannins. No ageing required. | Mostly Chilean and Argentine cuvées, some available individually. | Santa Rita, Secret Reserve Pinot Noir, €13.80 |
| €20 to €40 The place starts to speak | You move from the brand to the terroir: regional Burgundies and entry-level villages, coastal cuvées from South Africa and Chile. Often hand-harvested, partly barrel-aged, three to five years' ageing potential. | Most bottles available individually | Creation, Pinot Noir, €30.40 |
| €40 to €80 The heart of the section | Burgundy villages and premiers crus, named plots from the New World. Hand sorting, native yeasts, a share of whole bunches, twelve months or more in barrel. Five to ten years' ageing potential. | The largest tier, with many bottles available individually | Hamilton Russell, Pinot Noir, €55.00 |
| €80 and above Plots, monopoles and grands crus | Massal selections, ungrafted vines, lieux-dits that carry their name alone. These wines are closed in their youth and call for patience or a decanter. | From €84.00 to €330.00, mostly available individually | Felton Road, Block 3 Pinot Noir, €112.00 |
Price does not follow country the way you might imagine. The Burgundy median is €39.90, that of the American bottles €91.90, and New Zealand's €53.10. The most affordable origin is Chile, with a median of €22.15 and seven bottles under €20.00.
Burgundy no longer has a monopoly in this cellar
Burgundy accounts for less than a third of the section. The rest comes from ten other countries, six of which offer a substantial range. The grape variety left its home region long ago; our cellar simply reflects that.
There remains the received idea that a New World Pinot offers at €40.00 what a Burgundy charges double for. The prices here say the opposite. The Burgundy median is €39.90, New Zealand's €53.10, the United States' €91.90. Felton Road cuvées start at €69.00, most Cristom wines are €96.00 or more, while a Volnay from Domaine Vaudoisey costs €46.00 and its Pommard €57.00.
What has changed is that the comparison is now made at equal price rather than at half price. For €30.40, the Creation Pinot comes from the Hemel-en-Aarde slopes cooled by the South Atlantic, against a Chorey-lès-Beaune from Domaine Cachat-Ocquidant at €35.00. For €45.00, the Waimaunga from Clos Henri compares directly with the Volnay mentioned above. Burgundy's advantage now lies in the clarity of its appellations, and in availability, since virtually all Burgundies can be bought individually, whereas wines from elsewhere are more often sold in packs.
Three figures before deciding
Less than a third: Burgundy's share of the section, against cuvées from ten other countries.
€39.90 versus €91.90: the median for Burgundy against that of the United States. The most expensive bottle in the section, at €330.00, is Argentine.
Single bottles: Burgundy offers almost all of its wines this way, whereas other origins are more often sold in packs.
The Wine Wanderer Team
What we are asked most often
Why does the same grape variety give such different wines from one country to another?
Pinot Noir is thin-skinned and ripens early: it records the slightest difference in temperature, exposure and soil. In this section, freshness comes from the ocean in Marlborough and Walker Bay, from altitude in Gualtallary where the vines grow at almost 1,500 metres, from a volcano and glacial streams in Chile, and from latitude alone in Burgundy. These different sources of coolness give acidities and textures that are nothing alike, even at comparable ripeness.
Which origin should you start with when discovering this grape?
Through Chile, which shows the lowest median in this section at €22.15 and seven bottles under €20.00. The El Viejo del Valle by Matetic and Guillaume Letang at €12.50, from vines of 40 to 60 years old in the Andes, can be bought singly, as can the Santa Rita Secret Reserve at €13.80. A regional burgundy at around €21.00 then provides the European point of comparison.
Why do prices range from €11.50 to €330.00?
Because the section mixes cuvées blended from a wide area with hand-harvested named plots. The price pays for the degree of selection: yields, sorting, ungrafted vines, the proportion of whole bunches, the length of barrel ageing. The most expensive bottle, Le Paradis from Domaine Nico at €330.00, comes from plots in Gualtallary at almost 1,500 metres of altitude. The median of the section is still €49.90.
What can you get for under €20?
Eighteen bottles are under €20.00, but only five can be bought singly: the El Viejo del Valle at €12.50, the Santa Rita Secret Reserve at €13.80, the rosé prosecco from Sutto at €13.90, the Chacra la Papay from Malma at €16.50 and the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Coup de Foudre from Domaine Bonnardot at €19.90. The other thirteen are only offered by the pack.
Are all bottles sold individually?
A good part of the section, yes. Burgundy is the best served, with almost all its bottles available individually, whereas the Australian cuvées are sold only in packs. The American, New Zealand, Chilean, South African and Argentine wines are split between the two options. Each product page shows the packaging available.
At €50, should you choose a Burgundy or a New World Pinot?
Both hold their own at this price level, and the choice comes down to style. Between €45.00 and €55.00, our cellar offers the Waimaunga from Clos Henri at €45.00, the Hamilton Russell at €55.00 and the Volnay from Domaine Vaudoisey at €46.00. The first two play on tension and clean red fruit, the third on restraint and tannin.
What dishes should I serve with Pinot Noir?
It is the most versatile red at the table, because it brings acidity and little tannin. In this section, some cuvées are recommended with beef, with lamb and with white meat. Cheeses follow, with pairings for pressed cheeses and soft cheeses, and many bottles go with grilled vegetables. Some are even recommended with a spicy dish, which few reds can handle.
At what temperature should it be served, and should it be decanted?
At 14–16 °C, cooler than most reds: above that, the alcohol takes over and the fruit fades. Bottles under €20.00, made in tanks to be drunk young, do not need decanting. Single-plot cuvées above €80.00, often closed in their youth, benefit from half an hour in a decanter or being opened in advance.
How long does a Pinot Noir keep?
It depends on the price tier. Cuvées under €20.00 are drunk within two years, those from €20.00 to €40.00 generally keep three to five years, and single-plot wines above that, aged twelve months or more in barrel, keep five to ten years. As Pinot Noir has little tannin, it is its acidity that carries it over time, not its structure.
Why are there sparkling wines and blends in this section?
Because Pinot Noir is also used as a blending grape. Four bottles in the section are sparkling wines in which it plays a supporting role: a vintage Sutto prosecco rosé blended with Glera, a Methode Cap Classique from Groot Constantia, an extra brut from Caelum and a brut nature rosé from Otronia. Two reds are also blends, one Argentine with Malbec and Bonarda, the other Austrian with Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch. The other 182 bottles are varietal Pinot Noirs.