Pinot Noir: Supply and Demand Increasing

According to San Francisco Biz Journal's article, Wine Country's pinot push is bearing fruit, "...[pinot is being] called the red grape with a future, one with a growing financial foothold in the competitive California wine market. And, if producers in the key pinot-growing regions around the state perform as expected, the temperamental grape could put the California wine industry up a notch on the palates of wine drinkers worldwide -- even those in Burgundy, France, the region famed for making pinot noir for generations."

Consumer demand is increasing substantially. MFK Research, a wine consultancy in St. Helena, issued figures showing pinot noir shipments and sales grew by 30 percent in 2001. People are also willing to spend more money: in 2001 more than half of the bottles of pinot noir sold for over $15.

Still, grapegrowers and winemakers have to be careful in handling pinot. ""It is a more transparent grape," said John Haeger, a wine writer based in Palo Alto who is writing a book on pinot noir. "Nearly everything you do in the process of growing or making it has a bigger impact on the final product. It has been sort of a holy grail for winemakers."

Debbie Zachareas, wine director at Bacar restaurant in San Francisco. said more customers are asking for pinot noir. She sees the market getting more competitive as more pinot noir is made with grapes from lesser-known regions such as vineyards in the Santa Lucia hills. outside of Monterey. Other growing areas include the Santa Maria Valley and the Santa Rita Hills near Santa Barbara, and the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Vintners in New Zealand also show promise, Zachareas said.

"There are a lot more people discovering how to make great pinot noir," she said, "and if it is not made great it won't sell."