seduced by pinot.

Anyone following me on Twitter knows that my favorite wine varietal is pinot noir.  As my Barrel Tasting posting stated, “It wasn’t until I discovered this varietal that I started drinking and loving wine.”   It has been an inspiration as well as my “gateway drug” into other bolder wines, like a yummy Petite Verdot, a sometimes overpowering Syrah or my recently love for Malbec’s (all thanks to Mounts Family Vineyard & Kokomo Winery).

The Wikapedia article on these grape states:

Pinot noir (IPA: [pi.no.’nwaʁ]) is a red wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name is derived from the French words for “pine” and “black” alluding to the varietals’ tightly clustered dark purple pine cone-shaped bunches of fruit.

Being lighter in style, it has benefited from a trend toward more restrained, less alcoholic wines. Robert Parker has described pinot noir in Parker’s Wine Buying Guide:

“When it’s great, Pinot noir produces the most complex, hedonistic, and remarkably thrilling red wine in the world…”

Regardless of the irony that the quote comes from Robert Parker, a man notorious for enjoying bolder more alcoholic wines (see Robert Parker’s Bitch if you haven’t already), the quote still hits home for me.  Thrilling is a perfect description of this wine.

Even more thrilling is the thought of tasting many different pinot noir’s in one day.  Well, the 7th Annual Passionate about Pinot Noir Summit which takes place on Sunday April 5^th, will allow attendees (aka judges) to blindly taste over 40 pinot noir’s and compare their findings at The Final Showdown.

Pinot’s will vary from around the globe, including Canada, Chile, France, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand.  It will also be interesting to taste the differences in pinot’s from California, Oregon, Idaho, Michigan, and even New York.

They will even have pinot inspired workshops where attendees can learn everything from why grape growers need specific growing regions to grow the finicky grape to which food pairs the best with this wine.

Of course myself and my pinot partner in crime Thea of Luscious Lushes (aka @winebratsf) had to be judges (thanks Thea!), so if you want to participate along with us, and try over 40 different pinot’s, please click here to attend the Pinot Noir Summit

The cost is $100 per person (get your discount here) and attendance is limited to 250 Pinot Noir lovers, so hurry up!