Wine made from Pinot Noir is typically of a light to medium body, with a fruity taste, a light red color, a rich, almost perfumed, aroma, and a hint of under-tastes ranging from cherries to raspberries. It is widely regarded as the single grape variety which produces the finest wines in the world. It has achieved staggering popularity in recent decades, treasured by gourmet wine fanciers the world over, and enjoyed centuries of moderate popularity before that.

However, Pinot Noir also has a reputation as one of the most difficult grape varieties to cultivate and make into wine. Traditionally, the Burgundy region of France is the best-suited home to the plant. Nonetheless, it is planted in every wine-producing country in the world, in the hopes that it will take. It has recently seen some success in being cultivated in the far Northern United States, Australia, Canada, Austria, Italy, and other regions. It is sensitive to light exposure, pruning techniques, and soil types, with a huge variation in flavor depending on where it was grown. It is also highly susceptible to bunch rot, fungal diseases, and mildew.

The history of Pinot Noir goes back to the beginning of wine itself with documented evidence in the first century A.D.; it is believed that it might have been the first cultivated grape only a step removed from wild vines. Because it is so popular and yet so difficult to grow, a multitude of clones and mutants have been bred from it, including Pinot Gris , Pinot Blanc, Pinot Moure, Pinot Teinturier, Pinot Gouges, Pinot Musigny, and many others.

Because of the wide variety of cultivated varieties and regions, Pinot Noir wines range across a very broad spectrum, and so in pairing with food, one may virtually select any dish and find a Pinot variety that is recommended for it.

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