Why Doesn't Pinot Noir Age As Well As Other Red Wines?

Forget vino elitism. Wines enjoyed young (or even with a screw-on cap) are no less impressive, complex, or scrumptious than aged ones. Arguably the prime example of this non-ageist dogma is Pinot Noir – a fruity, low- to moderate-tannin red hailing from France's Burgundy region. It's medium-bodied with crisp high acidity and multilayered tasting notes of dark cherry, red currant, baking spice, mushroom, and soil. Sensitive Pinot Noir grapes thrive in vineyards with foggy air, indirect sunlight, and low temperatures, yielding a cool, dimensional terroir with distinctive minerality. 

Still, for all its charms, Pinot Noir is indeed a wine best enjoyed young. Leave the vintages to rich reds like Cabernet Sauvignon and bold Tannat. When it comes to long-term aging, it's all about the tannins — perhaps the only department in which Pinot Noir falls shy.

The color of any wine is determined by the duration of its skin contact during fermentation. White wines are fermented with the skins off, oranges and rosés are partially skin-fermented (they're removed midway through the process), and red wines are fermented skin-on. Tucked inside the skins and seeds are natural compounds called phenols, and from those phenols come tannins. Beyond hue, skin contact duration also determines the concentration of a given wine's tannins, which act as a natural preservative (not unlike the role of sulfites in wine). Without a firm tannic structure, wines break down as they age. Even though Pinot Noir is a red wine, its low tannins give it poor vintage potential. 

Limited or nonexistent skin contact is why white wines and rosés feature lower tannins than red wines, as well as why many tannin-skeptics steer clear of reds for fear of a headache. (Although, whether or not tannins are actually linked to headaches has been the subject of major debate and multiple studies.) Pinot Noir grapes are also commonly used to produce rosé wines, which tote especially low tannins (and, subsequently, especially low aging capacity).

Pinot Noir is something of a unique outlier by this understanding. Despite its skin-on fermentation and deep, dark hue, it eludes the oft-accompanying tannins characteristic of its red counterparts. In fact, the name pinot noir translates to the French for "black pine," a nod to its dark hue. How can this be? 

For one thing, Pinot Noir grapes may have black skin, but it's ultra-thin – significantly thinner than high-tannin Cab grapes, another red from Bordeaux's Left Bank. Thinner skin means less phenols. Beyond the existing qualities of the grapes themselves, differences in winemaking such as longer maceration periods and higher temperatures can also express more tannins from the grape must. When a wine is described as having a "full" or "rich" body, the sipper recognizes a high tannic structure. Low-tannin wines, by contrast, might be described as smooth, silky, or bright, but traits like "robust" will not apply — as is the case with refreshing, medium-bodied Pinot Noir.

Beyond utilitarian aging potential, tannins also create arid dryness and piquant bitterness on the palette. Unlike the firm tannic structure of robust Cabernet Sauvignon, low-tannin Pinot Noir is accessible and refreshing enough to be enjoyed during hot summer months, a trait that cannot be said of many heavier winter weather reds.

It's worth noting that, although less common, some winemakers produce Pinot Noir using methods more suited to long aging. Pinot Noir's high acidity is naturally conducive to freshness during aging, and cooler-climate varieties such as grapes grown in Oregon yield ABVs of 12-14%. This potency helps maintain freshness over time. Aging Pinot Noir turns those fresh berry tones into a deeper dried fruit taste, also expressing tertiary floral and vegetal notes on the back end. On the flip side, any imbalance will also become exaggerated over time — or, as compounds deteriorate, imbalance may occur that wasn't present when the wine was young.

Pinot Noir produced with maturation in mind can last for decades, but these varieties are few, highly specialized, and tend to come with a predictably lofty price tag. "Older" doesn't necessarily mean "better," and as a general rule, aged Pinot Noir reaches its full expressive potential around the 5-to-10-year mark. If you feel the need to increase expression on this green-but-wise vino, your best bet is to buy young and aerate it in a decanter for around an hour before sipping.