Flight 4 - 8pm $16 for 5 pours with 3 additional for purchase

Let's do a comparative Pinot Noir flight this Friday featuring wines from both Oregon and Burgundy. I absolutely love both expressions and can't wait to do some side-by-side comparisons.

The Flight

The fashionable red burgundy grape is capable of producing divinely scented, gorgeously fruity expressions of place but often unwilling or unable to do so. Pinot Noir is sensitive to the size of crop it is expected to produce, and many vapid examples exemplify an over-demanding yield. It ripens relatively early (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are often harvested at the same time in Burgundy) so is not suitable for very warm regions where there would be no time to develop interesting flavours before acid levels plummet. On the other hand, many of the cooler regions in which it thrives suffer autumn rains which can rot Pinot's thin-skinned berries, resulting in pale, tainted wines. The Pinot Noir grower's lot is not an easy one.

The positive side of all this is that Pinot Noir is a very transparent grape. It really can communicate the difference in terroir, or grape-growing environment, between adjacent plots of vineyard. The heady wines grown in Les Amoureuses vineyard in the village of Chambolle, for example, really do taste distinctly different from the majestic produce of Le Musigny vineyard next door which is almost invariably fuller, denser and longer-living.

Constant Crush Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2023 $15 - This is a real zinger! Bright red fruits dominated by cranberry, cherry and pomegranate. Fresh and bright on the palate with generous fruit.

Timothy Malone Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2023 $17 - I'm stunned how Tim bottles such beautiful wines at these prices. This vintage for Tim yielded a very delicate wine. Red fruited and crunchy with racy acidity.

Ovum "EZY TGR" Pinot Noir Willamette Valley $19 - Striking, translucent ruby red in the glass, the first aromas are classic Willamette Pinot – fresh strawberry and dark ripe berries. Cherry cola notes begin to emerge as it opens up in the glass, followed by dried rose and black tea.

Thevenet & Fils Bourgogne Rouge Les Clos 2023 $20 - Red fruited and vibrant on the attack. Subtle and fine tannins.

Domaine Pillot Bourgogne Rouge 2022 $21 - Delivers precise red berry fruit framed by subtle earth notes and fresh acidity. It reflects the estate’s focus on terroir clarity and makes an approachable yet refined choice for versatile food pairing.

Bonus Wines

Evesham Woods Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2023 $25 - On the palate this offers tart cranberry and pomegranate seed flavors that mingle well with dried herbs and shades of forest floor.

Domaine Pillot Mercurey 2022 $29 - This is a lovely example of Mercurey with delicious, red fruits and spice on the nose, carefully extracted tannins and a beguiling, fresh aftertaste. Pinot from Mercurey  colour is a deep, profound ruby. This crisp-fruited wine evokes strawberry, raspberry, and cherry. Age brings in notes of underbrush, spicy tobacco notes and cocoa beans. In the mouth this wine is rich, full-bodied, and chewy. In its youth, the tannins of this wine lend it a mineral firmness. When aged, it is attractively rounded and meaty.

Agnès Paquet Auxey-Duresses "Les Hoz" 2022 $54 - Wines from Auxey-Duresses are bright ruby colour is neither too light nor too dark. The bouquet, too, is well-balanced between rich aromas of small black fruits (blackcurant, blackberry, bilberry…) and flower scents (peony). In the mouth, the attack is refined and supple, measured, meaty and pleasing. When young, there may be a touch of astringency but its tannins soon soften and its texture becomes velvety and it develops musky notes, as well as those of leather and spices.