So I read this article in the September issue of Sunset Magazine about white Pinot Noir. So of course I had to find it and try it, right? There can't be a NEW kind of wine that hasn't at least crossed my palette once. I love Pinot Noir and as many of you know I always think of it as the perfect food pairing wine, especially if you are with a group, at a restaurant and everyone is ordering different food. Pinot Noir is light enough that it can just easily go with most foods and it still has a great depth of flavor that allows you to enjoy a really good wine. Therefore, when I heard of white Pinot Noir I thought I heard angels singing!!

It is not often that I mail order wine just because I have amazing wine opportunities in my back yard. Whether we are talking about small local boutique wineries or large big box wine stores I have it all. I am also close enough to Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, Paso Robles and Temecula that I can always do a weekend trip to get those wines direct from the wineries themselves. Yes, I know I am a little wine spoiled living in California and all. On a side note I also have to say I love Napa/Sonoma wines, but as I have explored the Southern and Central wine regions of California there are definitely wineries down here that have created some pretty comparable competition for the Napa wine masters...just my opinion.

Anyway I digress...back to white Pinot Noir. So the white Pinot Noir is not a new grape, it is just a new way of pressing the Pinot Noir grape. The white Pinot Noir is created by pressing the grape clusters and just collecting the juice avoiding as much contact as possible with the skins. So the color is kind of a creamy yellow kind of like an oaked Chardonnay.

These wines are being made in California and Oregon by a few experimental wine makers. They are being made in stainless steel and in oak. And the white Pinot Noir I ordered and tried was from Brandborg which is an Oregon winery in the Umpqua Valley. http://www.brandborgwine.com/



I ordered a red Pinot Noir and a white Pinot Noir because I wanted to do a side by side taste test. I was curious to see if my friend who greatly dislikes white wines in general would like this one. The article said the white Pinot Noir had the same density of a red wine so I thought this might be the perfect compromise.

When I got the wine I debated whether or not to chill it. It is a wine wine, but if it is supposed to be reminiscent of a Pinot Noir I wouldn't have chilled it. So I decided to put it in the wine fridge for a little bit to chill it slightly, but still allow for the depth of flavor to be prominent.

However, last night when we did a side by side tasting I was a bit taken aback. The white Pinot Noir does not taste anything like a red wine. It reminds me of a Sauvignon Blanc. There was a lot of citrus and it almost made your mouth pucker a bit. It is crisp and fresh and would be a great summer sipping wine, but it did not remind me of a Pinot Noir at all. Especially considering this was an Oregon Pinot Noir. I have always known Oregon Pinots to be a bit on the bold side, a little Earthy, slightly dry and with layers of flavor. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the white Pinot Noir as it lacked any of that complexity. It was ok! And my white hating friend continues to hate whites and he was NOT a fan of the white Pinot Noir.

On a side note we did enjoy the red Pinot Noir from Brandborg. It was a light and flavorful Pinot and it paired well with the Black Bean and Beef Enchiladas I made. Again I probably won't make the effort to mail order it, but it was a good wine.

So although I haven't written off the wine varietal all together I will not continue to go out of my way to search out the white Pinot Noir. If I am looking for a crisp, citrusy summer wine I will probably continue to drink Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc or Viognier....but that is just me!! Cheers!