North American Pinot Noir
Pinot noir is the moodiest of grapes: at its best, it can be velvety and complex, a good pairing for both seafood and red meat; but its temper can change quickly, as the wine is fragile and unstable. As Haeger explains in this comprehensive guide to the wine, "pinot can show beautifully from barrel and then suffer an acute case of bottle shock. It can taste ethereal one day, but then close down to a shadow of its former self." No wonder, then, that it’s taken American producers so long to master pinot’s personality and develop wines that rival France’s burgundies. But they have. Though Haeger’s discussion of terroirs and his instructive essays ("The Rise of Pinot Noir in North America," "Winegrowing and Winemaking," etc.) may appeal only to serious oenophiles, the good news he shares is for everyone: "the food-friendliest wine on earth" now has scores of excellent American producers. Heager profiles 72 of them in this volume, many of them smaller vineyards that casual wine drinkers may not yet have heard of. Thus Heager succeeds in giving wine lovers a deeper and broader appreciation of the grape than any top-ten, five-star list could deliver.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.