Is Bordeaux like Pinot Noir?

Is Bordeaux like Pinot Noir? That is a question I’ve seen asked a lot and I understand what is the real question behind it.

Indeed, we can’t literally compare Bordeaux with Pinot Noir seeing as the former is a region whereas the latter is a grape variety.

Bordeaux wines are mostly blends (from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) and wines from Pinot Noir, which mostly comes from Burgundy or Alsace, is using a single varietal wine: Pinot Noir

In order to compare a Pinot Noir wine to a Bordeaux wine, let’s agree on the definition of both parties.

What is Pinot Noir like?

Pinot Noir is a grape variety with a thin skin and thus gives to birth to pale to medium colored wines. It has a high acidity and low to medium tannins. The classic Pinot Noir offers red fruit aromas and flavors (strawberry, raspberry, red cherry). With age, it can offer outstanding tertiary aromas such as earth, meat and mushroom.

Oak is carefully used during fermentation and aging in order to preserve the grape variety’s aromas.

In France, Pinot Noir is most well-known in Burgundy (with the estate La Romanée Conti delivering one of the best Pinot Noir in the world) and can also be found in Alsace. However, Pinot Noir differs largely in these two regions

What is a Bordeaux wine like?

Now this is a very large question but for this post’s sake I will generalize it. If you want to know more about Bordeaux and its specificities or at least have a more precise overview, I recommend you read my post about the Bordeaux region.

Red wine in Bordeaux is usually a blend of two main grape varieties : Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Merlot has a medium acidity with medium tannins and offers different fruit characteristics according to its level of ripeness. It can deliver red fruit and herbaceous aromas and flavors to cooked black fruit.

Cabernet Sauvignon is a grape with thick skin which brings color and tannins to the wines. It has high acidity and herbaceous and black fruit aromas.

These two grapes are often blended because Merlot will help lower the tannins and acidity levels and make the wines more ready to drink at an early age. It will also adds red fruit flavors to the blends.

Cabernet Sauvignon will balance a wine’s acidity and add tannins.

So Bordeaux wines are usually dark colored and full-bodied wines that can seem austere in its young age.

Another key difference : the wine regions

Bordeaux wines come from … Bordeaux obviously and Pinot Noir mostly comes from Burgundy (or at least the one you are referring to).

These two regions, although both very famous, are very different.

Bordeaux is located in a temperate oceanic climate, and enjoys the Gulf Stream effect, a WARMING ocean current that extends the vegetative cycle of the vine. However, the ocean brings its share of RAIN, and therefore significant humidity.

The Landes forest and the coastal dunes make it possible to avoid the worst by protecting the vineyards from storms. Thus, Bordeaux is subject to the VINTAGE effect, and the wines produced be a blend of several grape varieties. Indeed, it would be too risky to count on only one…

Burgundy is vast region : in the north, its climate is continental and fresh whereas, in the south, it is more moderate. Rain is an issue during the flourishing period, at the beginning of summer and during harvest in the autumn so are early spring frosts.

Numerous small geological faults, combined with the natural process of erosion will influence the wine to be produced. Moreover, the soil of the hillsides is generally shallower and better drained than the soil in the plains which will contribute to the large palette of types of soil Burgundy has to offer.

As you may have read in my other posts, France is particularly vigilant to the terroir effect and will plant grape varieties according to the climate and soil.

With Burgundy’s cool climate, Pinot Noir will be able to reach full maturity without over ripening. Cabernet Sauvignon wouldn’t ripen in Burgundy, seeing as it needs a warm climate. Same goes for Merlot. Well, with the climate change, this may change in a few years, but you get the point.

This is also a KEY difference between the tow regions and naturally the wines they will offer.

Conclusion : Is a Bordeaux wine like a Pinot Noir?

So the answer to the question is a downright no. But let’s sum up and explain WHY is a Bordeaux wine different from a Pinot Noir wine.

However a Pinot Noir will be light colored and light to medium bodied with red fruit flavors, especially if drunk young, whereras a Bordeaux will dark colored and full-bodied with austere flavors in its young age.

Both will gain with aging, that’s for sure. And both can age for a long time.

But they will age differently. Pinot Noir will offer earthy, mushroom aromas whereas Bordeaux will open up and deliver red and black fruit aromas before moving on to tertiary aromas such as dried fruit, tobacco or even chocolate aromas. So, these two wines are very different and all depends on what you are looking for.

Let me know in the comments which one you prefer!