Le Grand Noir Pinot Noir 2013
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Versatile with many foods including pork, tuna, salmon and firm cheeses.
Robert Joseph is author of 27 books on wine, including French Wines, Bordeaux and its Wines and The Complete Encyclopedia of Wine. He also founded the International Wine Challenge and built it into the world’s biggest wine competition. He was described by Decanter Magazine as one of the 50 people who would influence wine drinking in the 21st century.
Hugh Ryman was one of the first “flying winemakers” and has made wine in 10 countries, winning numerous awards. His experience gives him a uniquely broad view of the 21st Century wine world. Hugh lives in Bordeaux and in Bergerac where he owns the Chateau de la Jaubertie and loves the terroirs of France.
Labels from Kevin Shaw, devised at his Stranger & Stranger studio have helped to boost sales of wines and spirits ranging from Hendricks Gin to Michel Rolland's Clos de Siete. He is a devoted wine lover himself, with a cellar full of eclectically chosen bottles from both the New and Old World.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A catchall term for the area surrounding the Languedoc and Roussillon, Pays d’Oc is the most important IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée) in France, producing 85% of this country’s wine under the IGP designation. (IGP indicates wine of good quality, not otherwise elevated to the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) status.)
The near perfect Mediterranean climate combined with dry, cool winds from the north, optimal soils, altitudes and exposures make Pays d’Oc an ideal wine growing region. Single varietal wines and blends are possible here and while many types of grapes do well in Pays d’Oc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Grenache and Cinsault are among the most common.