Questions Regarding Pinot Noir

Red Burgundy is nearly always made from a grape called Pinot noir. As for most varietals, there are several clones, differing in yiels, etc. In South Africa, Pinot noir wines got better after Swiss clones were replaced by "real" burgundian clones. There are anecdotal quantities of Bourgogne Passe-tout-grains which is a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay. White Burgundy is almost always produced from Chardonnay.

Spätburgunder is the German word for Pinot Noir.

Welcome,

Yves

There are about 50 different clones of PN. PN is also parent to many other varietals, such as Chardonnay - usually the other parent being Gouais blanc. During the 70s many growers replanted with high yield clones, to the detriment of quality (added to this was excess of nutrients, particularly potassium), but a return to high quality clones has taken place. Apart from Bourgogne-passetoutgrain, which should have minimum 60 % PN (Gamay for the rest), there are some oddball Bourgogne Rouge made in small quantities from one or two varietals in the Yonne area - Cesar is the one that comes to my mind. Traditionally, some particular vineyards have special clones - apparently, in Clos de Mouches Drouhin has some Pinot Gris vines, e g. There has also been some local clones that were unpigmented, giving a WHITE wine from what was traditionally PN. The Pinot family (noir, gris, blanc) are genetically very close to each other, so close that they could, I believe, be considered clones - somebody is sure to correct me if I exagerate.

HTH

Cheers

Nils

Yves wrote on Fri, 7 Mar 2008 17:16:48 +0100:

Y> Red Burgundy is nearly always made from a grape called Pinot Y> noir. As for most varietals, there are several clones, Y> differing in yiels, etc. In South Africa, Pinot noir wines Y> got better after Swiss clones were replaced by "real" Y> burgundian clones. There are anecdotal quantities of Y> Bourgogne Passe-tout-grains which is a blend of Pinot Noir Y> and Gamay. White Burgundy is almost always produced from Y> Chardonnay.

??>> 2) How does Spätburgunder differ from Burgundy in terms of ??>> varietal?

Y> Spätburgunder is the German word for Pinot Noir.

I was about to write asking how to pronounce Sptburgunder because, for some reason, that's what appeared. That looks an almost Serbian consonant cluster (the Republic of Srbska, officially) but I see it's some artefact of the display program since the umlaut-a appeared when I began to reply.

James Silverton Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Thanks Yves Wonder if the "real" burgundian clones is used for Spätburgunder and not a case like Emerald Riesling or Welschriesling which are simply called Riesling but by far not the "real" German Riesling. Ray

No, it's not. Spätburgunder *is* Pinot Noir. But there are different clones, of course, as we have seen in Burgundy with the pinot droit vs. pinot fin case.

M.

I'd go so far as to say that they ARE considered to be clones of the same variety.

I'm not sure what you mean by "anecdotal quantities" - Passe-tout-grains is most certainly not just the stuff of anecdotes. There is also Bourgogne Grand Odinaire, which potentially has even more Gamay in the blend.

Steve,

would you agree if I replaced "anecdotal" by "tiny" quantities? For the last decade, I have not seen a single bottle on a retailer's shelf.

Yves

Yves, I don't know where you shop, but I see several different Passetoutgrains in every vintage in major metropolitan areas such as Chicago and San Francisco. Chevillon's is one I see quite a bit of, and a particular favorite of mine.

Mark Lipton

Here are some production stats for 1998 for the basic Burg appellations (from Clive Coates "The Wines and Domaines of France":

Bourgogne Rouge: 123,064 hl Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire (red, white and rosé): 2,460 hl Bourgogne Passetoutgrain: 66,663 hl Bourgogne Blanc: 57,210 hl Bourgogne Aligoté: 95,416 hl

I'd say that is more than t>Steve,