Victoria Moore’s quest for the perfect pinot noir

Finding a great pinot noir is a bit like falling in love, says our wine editor, Victoria Moore

Last year I gave a wine tasting for the London cast of the stage adaptation of Sideways. The 2004 film told the story of two Americans on a week-long road trip around the vineyards of Santa Barbara. Jack is a former soap star now relegated to voiceovers on ads; Miles is a divorced, neurotic writer and wine geek, sustained by his love – bordering on obsession – for pinot noir. My task was to help the British actors understand the wine-loving parts of their characters, and to explain what’s so special about pinot noir. Pinot noir is the heartbreak grape. Of all the grapes used to make wine, this is the one that brings tears to the eyes of grown men – seriously, I’ve seen it happen. Pinot noir gets people emotional. It elicits joy, ecstasy, disappointment and frustration. It drives winemakers half insane as they pursue it with clench-teethed determination, even in completely unsuitable climates.

Even buying pinot noir isn’t easy. Somehow you can never completely rely on a bottle you thought would be utterly sublime – you can never be sure what you’re going to get. The problem, from a drinker’s perspective, is that when pinot noir is right, nothing can touch it – it makes wines that taste so e!ortless, fluid and light you almost feel you’ve encountered a ghost when you drink them. I could try to describe the flavours cherry blossom, cherries, cranberries and, as it ages, mushrooms, earth, and dead leaves – but that would miss the point. A beautiful pinot noir is otherworldly. Adjectives become redundant. When it’s not right, pinot is just ordinary. Enjoyable, sure, but you’d never guess it could cause such chaos. There’s nothing in between. Of course, this is part of the appeal for those who have fallen for pinot. This grape is like the person who doesn’t message back, causing you to set all self-respect aside and try again and again – text after text, bottle after bottle – until, finally, you’re rewarded with a moment close to pure bliss. This is what I tried to convey to the Sideways cast, with my neurotic fussing over the bottle I had taken for them to taste –

‘I hope it’s good, if it’s not OK, I promise you… [muttering continues].’

So, if you’re buying a Valentine’s bottle, I suggest you avoid pinot noir: the fear/ anticipation risks overshadowing your date. If you don’t have a date for the 14th, can I suggest you get into pinot noir instead? It can give you as much of a runaround as any di"cult partner, and it’s not easy to find one of those mesmeric bottles. You could start by trying the GevreyChambertin by Rossignol-trapet 2011 (£35, Berry Bros & Rudd). The Saintsbury Pinot Noir Carneros 2012, USA (£26), Martinborough Vineyard Pinot Noir 2012, New Zealand (£27.50) and Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2014, New Zealand (£50) are available from Majestic. Or look for a pinot noir from the Mornington Peninsula in Australia: Paringa Estate, Ten Minutes by Tractor, Kooyong and Ocean Eight are good names. The perfect bottle may prove hard to find, but persevere and one day you’ll find a pinot that leaves you blinking in blissful disbelief.