Just had a 2009 Lafarge passtoutgrains l’exception, fantastic use of the evil gamay and pinot noir, a little savory and gamey, but retained nice pinot fruit. Easy on the wallet as well. Not many other grapes I can think of which would work well though.
Tran: Pinot Noir doesn’t blend very well with other varieties because it tends to disappear in blends. Other varieties blend well because they are similar is structure and intensity, and with Pinot being so light and intricate, it gets overwhelmed with small percentages of bigger varieties. There’s a good reason Bordeaux wines are blends, and Rhone wines are blends, but Burgandy wines are almost always 100% Pinot Noir.
In the Jura, they blend Poulsard, Trousseau and Pinot Noir and I think it works really well. One of the few examples that does. That and blending Pinot Noir with Pinot Meunier pressed early with bubbles works well in Champagne.
Tran: Pinot Noir doesn’t blend very well with other varieties because it tends to disappear in blends. Other varieties blend well because they are similar is structure and intensity, and with Pinot being so light and intricate, it gets overwhelmed with small percentages of bigger varieties. There’s a good reason Bordeaux wines are blends, and Rhone wines are blends, but Burgandy wines are almost always 100% Pinot Noir.
Except that I’ve had winemakers tell me the exact opposite - PN tends to stand out, rather than disappear. It’s not necessarily light and intricate unless you make it that way, but it is usually “grapey” and identifiable. I think people don’t do it because they don’t have to - people will buy PN by itself. In the US, people like to buy by grape variety anyway, so it’s easier to sell that way than to make a blend, which might be better, but would also require more effort to sell.
I think the reason Bordeaux is blends and Burgundy isn’t has more to do with history and politics than with anything unique to the grapes. Burgundy is colder and the “Bordeaux” grapes historically wouldn’t do so well there. Not to mention that the “Bordeaux” grapes that we have today are not necessarily those of yesteryear anyway. In Burgundy, which was an independent entity for a long time, they didn’t have a lot of choices - they really only had a few grapes, and given that limited selection, one turned out better than the others.
Bordeaux was more cosmopolitan, as a port city, and it wasn’t a wine producing area until much later, so when they finally settled on a few grapes, it was w/out the benefit of a sole authority and was the result of political lobbying by various producers. They didn’t have a duke to issue an edict. Otherwise, Bordeaux would probably be mostly Malbec.
I would guess that this historical pattern has lots to do with which grapes grow well in each area.
After we bottle our reds, we save the dregs from racking and siphon into bottles for our cellar workers. I have a couple of cases of 2010 Pinot blended with 2009 Syrah at about 60/40 PN/Syrah. It is delicious. The problem is, this would be a fine way to turn a batch of $30 wine into very nice $20 wine. So, unless I have more PN than I know what to do with, it’s not part of my plans any time soon.
In Switzerland they blend Pinot Noir quite a bit with Gamay and Saint Laurent - Dole in Particular is one of the sexiest red wines produced in Switzerland - and it’s Pinot and Gamay -
Let’s not forget that any American wine with “Pinot Noir” on the label might be a blend.
I saw that Cakebread just released their new vintage (2011?) of the Rubaiyat, a blend of pinot and syrah (I think usually something like 2/1 ratio), sometimes with other varieties included in the blend varying from vintage to vintage. I’ve liked this wine in the past, and the QPR at around $30 is good, if not exceptional. I even had a magnum once that was maybe 5 years after release, and it had aged pretty well for that period of time.
Domaine Alfred (now called Chamisal Estate) used to sell an inexpensive pinot/syrah blend called DA Red, I think for less than $15. It was a perfectly decent inexpensive guzzler, but nothing exciting either.
Champagnes are about the only ones I’ve ever experienced that I would consider “good”…though a passetousgrains from Chevillon or others is certainly pleasant enough, if usually much more gamay than pinot noir.
You read my mind… Cakebread’s Rubiyat is a very enjoyable wine. A pure summer red.
They just had their Rubiyat release party for members yesterday. I was going to go up for it but couldn’t swing it. I’ve been the last couple years with friends who are members.
At least when they weren’t being goosed with a little syrah, grenache or Algerian something-or-other, as they were in the past.
Yes, many of those older Burgundies are still quite good.
Flowers has a wine called Perennial that is a Pinot and Syrah blend with lesser amounts Meunier, Dolcetto and Chardonnay depending on the vintage.
I’m a fan of Copain’s P2 - Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. Nice Summer wine.
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I enjoyed the Pinot Noir-Gamay Noir blend made by Bow & Arrow Winery in Oregon. It’s called “Rhinestones.”
Same here. It is a bit like a Pinot Noir rose on steroids.
Scherrer has done a very nice Zinfandel/Pinot rose.
This is what I was thinking. Passtoutgrains! Fun, somewhat funky stuff.
Try 2011 Penner-Ash Rubeo, 81% Pinot Noir 19% Syrah–a very interesting wine.