Pinot Noir, a history

Pinot Noir is one of the oldest grape varietals still in production today. Thousands of years older than Cabernet Sauvignon, it is theorized that Pinot is very closely related to wild grapes. Think of wild grapes as Neanderthals and the Pinot Noir we know now as us. We can assume that Pinot Noir was the main wine being consumed back at the time of the first civilizations.

Pinot derives its name from their pinecone like shape and dark color. Pinot Noir = Pinecone Black. However, more interestingly Pinot Noir/Gris/Grigio/Blanc are all just color mutations and all have identical DNA. One area of the chromosomes controls the color, but when these are inactive, they produce no pigment.

Another close relative to Pinot Noir is, can you guess? Chardonnay. It is a cross between Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc, another ancient grape that is extremely rare. It starts to make more sense why, where there is Pinot Noir there is usually Chardonnay.