Last night, as Jean and I were having some 2000 Byron Santa Maria Vly
Pinot Noir (previously reported on), we were contemplating how to
describe the varietal fruit of Pinot Noir. It's facile to call it "red
fruit," "strawberry" or "cherry" but when we tried to really put our
finger on it, we found ourselves looking elsewhere. To make a long
story short, we pulled out Jean Lenoir's "Le Nez du Vin" kit (an Xmas
present from years past) and tried out a number of the scents. Jean
felt that quince was the high note in what she was smelling (once she
got past the barnyard, smoke and pencil lead that were definitely
present) but after that there was a lot of waffling between hawthorn,
acacia and black currant flowers. I was unconvinced by all of the
scents, but was left puzzled by how to best describe it.

So, what sayest you, Thou denizens of afw? What fruit character do you
find as the most typical for Pinot Noir? Are there floral notes? If
so, of what sort?

I am curious (yellow)
Mark Lipton