So we will go through this in huge Detail but you can see pin up at the top Then it just says penal now it could say Pinot Noir because Pinot Noir was the originator of all the Other variants of Pinot they're all Mutations of the original Pinot Noir but In fact the scientists using DNA Analysis Have now worked out that all those other Things like Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris Are genetically identical to Pinot Noir They obviously look different some of Them are white similar or black but if You look at the DNA of what that makes Them their genetically identical so We're just going to call it Pinot as They kind of precursor of all the rest Of this family tree on network rather Than a tree and you can see one of the Most Um interesting Was Pinot Noir and this grape called Graze A gooey is Blanca white grape but It's hardly seen anymore and wasn't was Never an important grape in terms of Wine but for some reason it crossed very Easily with Pinot Noir and created down This line of the network all of these Other grape varieties over 20 of them Including things like Chardonnay and Gammy and quite well-known grapes those Are all directly offspring of gooeys and
Pinot Crossing and these crosses Um you can cross Two varieties uh within the same species Of Vine you can cross two varieties Together Deliberately and there are some wine Grapes like that like pinotage for Example in South Africa is a cross Between sanso and Pinot Noir someone Deliberately crossed to create something That they thought would would suit their Vineyard but most of these crosses are Wild it's just the the pollen from one Plant has pollinated the flower of Another plant and the two have crossed And so most of these are the same are Historical crosses And you can see also who could own this Other leg from Pinot there are some Unknowns still the DNA analysis says There must be another grape there yet You've identified but we're starting to Fill in all the blanks and we can see That Pinot no the Pinot family are also Part of the family tree one of the Ancestors of everything from Turtle and gunnegard cataracto a lot of Big Italian grapes down to things like Um Corvina which makes amaroni and makes Valpolicella and if we go along the way Again connected to Pinot even down to Things like vionier and Sira Offspring Crossing has led to this
Complex network of great varieties one Of the most complex in the wine world And Pinot means pine cone in French taken From the shape of the bunch As it says almost certainly originated In burgundy as Pinot Noir Thousands of years ago But like a lot of these very old Varieties it's genetically quite Unstable and what that means is it Mutates quite easily so that's why it Turned itself into Pinot Gris it turned Itself into Pinot Blanca pinomuni These mutations that just happen Naturally Also morphs into these different Expressions of the grape so Pinot Noir For example Morphs itself into all these Slightly different Variations of Pinot Noir which become Known as clones because someone has a Vineyard And Plant some Pinot Noir I notices that one Vine Produces fruit that's a little bit Different from all the other Vines maybe It's a little bit sweeter maybe it Accumulates a bit more sugar maybe it's A bit more tanning but I think that's a Special interesting Vine so they take Cuttings from it propagate them and
Start a new clone a new variant of Pinot Noir and there are now hundreds of them Possibly about a thousand different Clones of Pinot Noir you can see some of Them here on this uh this slide And was again an example of how this Pinot family is so interesting because It mutates and it changes and it creates All of these variants all of which are Slightly different it's one of the Reasons that uh People who grow Pinot Noir in particular Are so fascinated by it So the family of Pino is the main four Grapes that are all mutations of the Original Pinot Noir The kickoff of Pinot Blanc I'm sure everyone's tasted Pinot Blanca In the past in Alsace it's thought of as The kind of everyday wine variety you Tend not to get particularly expensive Pinot block but it makes a a nice Moderate style of wine without too much Excitement Uh people say it's generally quite Similar to Chardonnay maybe not quite as Distinctive Easy to ripe and produces lots of fruit So it's a kind of Workhorse Variety in a Way for a place like Alsace Also grown in Germany it was called Vice Gorgander white burgundy And it's popular in other places like Austria and Italy and it sometimes sees
Some Oak maturation or Barrel Fermentation but generally made is quite A light style also made into sparkling And sweet Styles too The second member of the family which We're not looking at tonight is It says they are a very important grape And champagne but it's a third of all Plantings basically and it's very handy And champagne because it ripens earlier Than Pinot Noir does So that means that there's a lot of rain Comes very end of harvest and starts to Kind of damage the crop you might Already have harvested your punamuniase At least you've got some grapes and good Quality It's also more resistant to frost and For that reason it's seen as the kind of Workhorse of champagne it's the Bedrock Of a lot of cuvees without ever being The star it's taken a really important Member of The Chorus Line in terms of Great varieties and champagne champagne Does have 80 of the world's plantings It's not planted much outside of Champagne although there are some Pinot Noir munier grapes in the lower end in Germany making both sparkling wines and Some still wines and there's actually a Bit of a kind of cult following in Australia in Victoria and near the Yara Valley in Australia and in California in The Napa Valley for making still wines
And you will see them they're always Expensive because it's a very kind of Niche thing but um I've tasted a few and It makes very good wines quite similar To Pinot Noir Um in those places Foreign One of our grips for tonight and we'll Talk about it a bit more just before we Taste do of course have a taste of the Of the wines if you're sitting watching Patiently you don't have to wait for me And so Pinot gris or Pinot Grigio Exactly the same grape it's just that Gracious the Italian term gree tends to Be the French term And the wines do often have a slightly Pink or copper tinge because as you can See the grapes are quite dark-skinned Some of them grow even darker than this Um but we're still technically a white Grape And it's a kind of shorthand And you'll see labels around the world Kind of using this shorthand if you say Your wine is a Pinot Gris you're going For a slightly spicier richer style of Wine And if you see your wine is Pinot Grigio Or you might be Italy but if you're not If you're in Australia making Pinot Grigio you're kind of indicating that You're making a slightly lighter style Of wine as it says there there's a lot
Of quite cheap very light Pinot Grigio Comes from the north of Italy as well as Some good ones Tonight we'll hopefully see that Difference in our Pinot Grigio which is A good quality one and then our Pinot Gris from Argentina will see that one is Light fresh Easy to drink the other one is a little Bit more Rich a little bit more weight To it although still Fresh and Easy to Drink with no Oak Then in our SAS it's great kind of home That makes everything from bone dry Wines to fill these sweet wines the Wines that Alsace calls sdgn selexion The grand Noble or a selection of noble Rotted grapes no try to scrapes similar Wines made in Germany and there are some Regions in You know Italy making a more serious Style of Pinot Grigio most of those ones Up in the top northeast corner of Italy North of Venice in the alto adigi which Is a turlene part of Italy and freely And colio which are on the Slovenian Board or the very top right hand corner Of Italy Quite a lot of planting of pinogrina Around the world and New Zealand's going For in a big way in Marlborough uh but Also increasingly in Oregon and Washington and in other places it's a Great it's finding quite a lot of favor
At the moment Then finally of our quartet Pinot Noir undoubtedly one of the World's great grapes Um a kind of Holy Grail for a lot of Producers is to make a wine as good as The burgundy original because it's quite A sensitive great quite a Fickle grape It needs the right soil it needs the Right amount of water the right Sun Needs the right terroir the right Earth And it needs the right wine making style To get the most from it it's not just Fundamentally it's not as easy a great To make a great wine from a something Like a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Sira Because it's a more temperamental Variety As you can see it's the major group of Champagne as well as being obviously Parking this great grape And it does make every depending on the Decisions you make about not only Planting and grape growing but wine Making it makes everything from really Light colored floral scented aromatic Light Reds to quite deconstructured Reds And we'll talk a little bit as we go Through next week in particular about What makes those differences to Pinot Noir when we look at three Pinot noirs Next week other hot spots around the World are listed there Oregon California New Zealand New Zealand Central otago
And an area Marlborough is increasingly making a lot Of very good pinot noir at an area Called martinborough in the North Island Also making a very good pinot noir Also in Australia South Africa Chile and Other places I've traditionally made Very good pinot but in smaller Quantities with places like Germany Italy Switzerland and Romania So that's a family of grapes with as Luke now specifically at our three wines For tonight are three white wines from Italy and uh Alsace and Argentina