Grapes into wine: Making Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir has to be the romanticised black grape on the planet. But how is made into the drink of so many wine-lovers’ dreams?

No end of purple prose has been devoted to this red wine. The so-called heartbreak grape has more than its fair share of admirers.

Not only does it have an illustrious history, but it's also terribly en vogue right now. It's hard to imagine its star will ever fade.

We know that it's a tricky customer - low-cropping and fickle in the vineyard, demanding a cool site and a litany of kid-glove techniques to coax it to its majestic best.

People are happy to part with a good wedge of their hard-earned cash to get their hands on good Pinot - and growers want you to pay a pretty penny because this stuff has very expensive taste in real estate and makes a slave of the landowner.

So what happens after this fruit is harvested to not screw it up – and, in fact, to make a, haunting, ethereal wine from it – is vital.

I headed to the Scorpo Vineyard in Merricks North on the Mornington Peninsula in the final week of March 2023 to track the grapes from vine to barrel.

I aim to explain in minute detail and plain English the options offered and actions taken to deliver you a good drink.