VINTAGE PLAYS THE HITS!
Part 4: Pinot Noir and Its Progeny

The best Pinot Noir in the world is from Burgundy, full stop. The Grands Crus of the Côte d'Or, the heartland of Burgundy, tower above their counterparts outside France. Stop trying to think of comparable Pinot from somewhere else, because it ain’t gonna happen. Unfortunately, we can’t afford to pour the best Pinots in the world ($20,000 for a bottle of DRC Romanée-Conti, anyone?), and we just can’t bear pouring you something that’s anything less than the best. What to do?

As it turns out, in addition to being perhaps the greatest wine grape ever, Pinot Noir also happens to be the Joe Jackson of wine grapes. Pinot got it on with his baby mama (the obscure and nearly extinct white grape Gouais Blanc) repeatedly in and around Burgundy a long time ago and fathered a slew of talented children. Chardonnay, Gamay, Melon de Bourgogne, and many others can count Pinot as their daddy. So we’ve decided we’re going to pour those instead. Because we love a good story. Because we’re armchair botanists. Because those wines are significantly cheaper than Grand Cru Burgundy. But, mostly, because we care.