THE holiday weekend, with Hallowe en around the corner. A few more days blocked off, on the wine drinker's calendar, as a suitable time for a bit of self indulgence - which may mean spending several pounds more than usual for the fun of trying something new.
There is a risk attached to what I'm proposing, I should warn you; a higher than usual possibility that the target area for exploration may produce damp squibs as well as fireworks. Burgundy? No, but close. The idea is to see how the New World handles Burgundy's red grape, Pinot Noir. Trick or treat?
From every perspective, this is exciting territory. At its best, Pinot Noir can pile up more purple prose than the rest of the world's grape varieties put together. Listen to any lover of Burgundy, talking about fragrance, delicacy, refinement, silkiness, seductiveness, and you see - even before embarking on your own investigations - how Pinot is seen as a fern me fatale among wines; an enchantress whose allure is so great that she is forgiven her frequent shortcomings.
That's the drinker's side of the story, and the reason why so many wine enthusiasts continue their quest for good examples of Pinot Noir despite the expense and the disappointments. For 350 years, almost every drop of the stuff, good, bad and frequently indifferent, came from Burgundy. It is only in the past couple of decades that talented winemakers in other countries have begun to latch on to Pinot Noir as a vehicle for self fulfilment.
The Burgundian grape is a temperamental prima donna, requiring careful handling in a cool climate. For a serious winemaker in a suitable region, succeeding with it is a nagging aspiration - the ultimate test of craft and flair, like wanting to play Hamlet.
Although California seems to have been the first region in the New World to flirt with Pinot Noir, Oregon in the north west of the US was the first to make a major impact. The first vineyards were planted in the Willemette Valley in 1965. Ten years later when comparative blind tastings were the newest indoor sport, a Pinot Noir from Oregon's Eyrie Vineyards beat several top Burgundies. So furious was the wellknown Burgundy producer Robert Drouhin that be restaged the event the following year only to be faced with similar results. Before long, Drouhin was out in Oregon prospecting. His Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir (see below) is among Oregon's best.
Since then, good Pinot Noir has begun to surface in little pockets all over the place: Washington state, just north of Oregon; California, especially in the cool Carneros and Russian River Valley; Australia - notably in Victoria; Tasmania; New Zealand. It is also to be found, to a limited extent and with limited degrees of success, in Chile, Argentina and South Africa.
Then there is Europe to consider Europe beyond the Burgundian border. Pinot is no newcomer to northern Italy, where it goes under the name of Pinot Nero, nor to Germany where it is Spatburgunder - inclined to be pale and rather sweet. What is interesting in that it is popping up in other places too - Austria, the south of France, even Spain.
That is not to say that New World or new wave Pinot, in its manifold forms, is crowding the wine shop shelves. Far from it. You have to hunt hard to find it, concentrating, if you can, on the relatively small handful of retailers who are Pinot Noir fanatics themselves. Although it seems likely that we will gradually see more interesting examples dotted around the Irish market, those worth getting excited about are unlikely ever to be widely available. Why? Because good Pinot Noir is almost invariably expensive. Bargains don't come readily from a grape that is tricky to grow, tricky to vinify and whose yields must be kept low.
But look on the bright side. There is a whole New World of delectable Pinots out there, waiting to be discovered. At their best, they can deliver exceptional drinking pleasure - "considerably more pleasure per penny", Jancis Robinson argues, "than the average bottle of Burgundy" - and from my own explorations to date, I'd agree. Which reminds me: while price/quality comparisons are interesting and valid, I don't believe Pinots from around the globe should be compared too closely, from a tasting point of view, with Burgundy. All have their own individual style which may be stunning even when a million miles distant from the Cote de Beaune or the Cote de Nuits.
Back to the pleasure. All those tantalising aromas! Those subtle, complex flavours exploding on the palate! Off you go, like a rocket, to see what treats are to be found.