Wine trends come and go (blue vino, anyone?), but the real classics never go out of style – like Pinot Noir. Here’s why we think this fresh, vibrant red makes for some awesome spring sipping.
1. It’s basically the LBD of wine. Pinot is famously versatile with food. It has enough intensity to stand up to beef, duck, and pork, and it has the elegance to match meaty fish like salmon and tuna. Even Coco Chanel would be a fan – her go-to snack was caviar with red wine, a perfect Pinot pairing.
2. That color. The Pinot grape has thin skin, which means it tends to be a pale and fetching shade of red. Bonus: It’ll emphasize that burgundy eye shadow trend everyone’s been rocking.
3. It’s a total world traveler. Pinot may be persnickety in the vineyard (it demands very specific conditions to grow well), but it does thrive all over the globe. Think: France, New Zealand, and California, for starters.
4. Pinot loves to chill out. The wine’s famously silky tannins and berry-rich flavors make it an ideal chilled aperitif. That’s right – stick it in your fridge for 30 minutes before serving, and you’re in for big refreshment on a warm night.
5. It has a sense of humor. Even though Pinot Noir makes some very serious wines (like Burgundy’s Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, which can sell for $20K a bottle), this vino still knows how to kick back and keep it light. It had a star turn in the Oscar-winning comedy Sideways and inspired a hilariously catchy song on Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
By Nicole Habif, Contributing Writer
