I don’t think I’ve drunk much, or any Pinot Noir.
Probably one of the reasons for this is its price. Bottles from the Burgundy region of France, the best of which can make even seasoned wine buffs drool with unashamed lust, can be super expensive – and notoriously variable in quality.
But though the fragile, temperamental grape grows best in cooler climates, it hasn’t stopped the New World giving it a go too, and sometimes not at wallet-breaking prices.
Cono Sur (they claim their name stems from geographic position, I reckon they just like a good pun) are a Chilean producer bringing Pinot Noir to the mid-price masses. Their 2008 Reserva is seemingly a more sophisticated version of their 2008 non-Reserva, and is a couple of pounds more.
This bad boy has been barrel-aged, and it shows. I should admit I’m no great fan of oak in a wine. Done well, done subtly, it adds an enjoyable complexity and depth. But here, my first taste of Pinot Noir is dominated by an all pervading oakiness that threatens to knock everything else out of the taste arena.
When it’s had time to breathe for a while the oak does diminish to an extent, and let the stern berry flavours march solemnly out. Red cherries, black cherries, they’re both here in their slightly tart glory. They pass, in their wake leaving an agreeable spicy, mineral-tinged buzz that tingles the taste buds. Here it gets more esoteric, savoury and earthy.
What’s also hard not to miss is the alcohol. At 14% abv, it dominates proceedings both in terms of rich stickiness in taste and an increasingly befuddled mind. The booze factor isn’t necessarily a bad thing – while I do prefer to retain all my brain capacity at least until the second glass, I’m a big fan of fat, spicy Chilean Shirazes where alcohol is used to add to the sumptuous decadence of proceedings.
But this Pinot Noir is lighter, both in colour and in body. It isn’t a full-bodied brain-bludgeoning muscle-man, and nor should it be. Yet, like the oak, the alcohol runs riot through the wine and distracts from the enjoyment of what are some pretty intriguing flavours going on under the surface.
Perhaps if I was already a convert to this elusive grape and knew what I was missing, I would be rejoicing at getting a decent bottle of it for under a tenner. But if an over reliance on oakiness and alcohol is what it takes to achieve it, I won’t be knocking over bottles of the other, often excellent, Chilean grape varieties to get another one.
Available at Gondola Wines for £7.99.
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