Name that wine
Yesterday, I visited the Hearts and Hands winery on Lake Cayuga, not too far from where I live (as you might have guessed, my recent Galtitude was not unrelated to drinking).
I’d been once before but just for the regular tasting. This time we did the full barrel tasting tour, which involved speaking with the wine maker for an hour and a half, trying pinot from three different sites, trying wines made with various levels of destemming, and being able to ask any crazy question about wine-making that you ever thought of. It was great! If you have an inner Paul Giamatti, this is the place to indulge it. A local wine writer/tv celebrity, Evan Dawson, who is essentially a cross between Matt Lauer and Paul Giamatti did an excellent description of it all here.
They only make pinot and riesling at Hearts and Hands, but they decided they wanted to do a fuller bodied white, so they’ll be releasing a white wine made from pinot noir next year. We tried it and it was very good. Domaine Serene in Oregon makes one as well. They haven’t settled on a name yet and they’re taking suggestions.
This seems like a perfect challenge for Balloon Juice commenters. What would be a good name for a white wine made from pinot noir?
June 4, 2010 9:48 pm
Posted in: wine blogging
63 Comments
63 Responses
Tara the antisocial social worker - June 4, 2010 | 9:50 pm · Link
Rand Paul?
No, that would be white pinhead noir.
scav - June 4, 2010 | 9:54 pm · Link
pi(not)
I don’t know where that came from.
Keith - June 4, 2010 | 9:55 pm · Link
“Drink Up, That’s Why. Private Reserve.”
El Cid - June 4, 2010 | 9:58 pm · Link
Hmmm.
“Prescott School Mural”?
Joel - June 4, 2010 | 9:59 pm · Link
Prescott Mural
.. or what El Cid said. Great minds think alike.
El Cid - June 4, 2010 | 10:00 pm · Link
@Joel: stereo
Jamey - June 4, 2010 | 10:03 pm · Link
“Pinot N.V.”
You’re welcome …
Peter - June 4, 2010 | 10:03 pm · Link
Cuvée Arizona.
DougJ - June 4, 2010 | 10:05 pm · Link
@Jamey:
Not bad.
Joshua - June 4, 2010 | 10:05 pm · Link
I was going to say “pinot blanc”, but apparently that’s already a thing.
monkeyboy - June 4, 2010 | 10:06 pm · Link
white wines made from dark skined grapes are normally called a ‘blanc de noir’, so in this case the standard name would be ‘blanc de pinot noir’.
but how about ‘oreo wine’.
Turgid Jacobian - June 4, 2010 | 10:06 pm · Link
MY inner Paul Giamotti is Joey Slotnik.
Peter - June 4, 2010 | 10:08 pm · Link
So how were they? (The pinots and rieslings). I live in the Hudson Valley and the winemaking here is of a different sort for the most part. I like what I’ve had from up there; I think they make the best riesling in the US in the Finger Lakes.
Wile E. Quixote - June 4, 2010 | 10:12 pm · Link
@monkeyboy:
How about “Michael Steele’s Cow on the Tracks Night Train Express”?
MikeJ - June 4, 2010 | 10:14 pm · Link
Champagne.
scav - June 4, 2010 | 10:15 pm · Link
pinot faded, because the actual white grape is pinot gris. go figure. The winery doesn’t really go in much for unusual names — and here I was wasting my time trying to work in hearts and black and white and coming up with Forgiveness and all sorts of similar blather. I still like π(not) for the graphic possibilities.
Chyron HR - June 4, 2010 | 10:15 pm · Link
Ol’ Crabbypants’ Private Reserve
DougJ - June 4, 2010 | 10:22 pm · Link
@Peter:
The reserve pinot is fantastic, not just the best pinot noir ever made in the Finger Lakes but the best by a very wide margin. The regular pinot may be the second best pinot I’ve tried from the Finger Lakes.
The special riesling we tried from barrel was fantastic, as good as FL rieslings get. The other rieslings I’ve had from them are good but not at the level of my very favorites (Weimer, Ravines, King’s Ferry).
They also make a very nice brut rose champagne.
maye - June 4, 2010 | 10:23 pm · Link
wild irish rose
The Dangerman - June 4, 2010 | 10:30 pm · Link
One White Pinot anagram is “Poet Within” (substantially better than “Hope Nitwit”)
Dead Ernest - June 4, 2010 | 10:30 pm · Link
From Wikipedia;
“Pinot gris is a bud sport of Pinot noir, presumably representing a somatic mutation in either the VvMYBA1 or VvMYBA2 genes that control grape colour.”
so maybe – ‘Pinot Gris or Gris you not VvMYAB1?’
DougJ - June 4, 2010 | 10:34 pm · Link
@The Dangerman:
That’s not bad.
Tom levenson - June 4, 2010 | 10:34 pm · Link
The blanc de noir suggestion above is the right conventional one, but I wonder if we can’t play with that a bit.
How about Pinot Beyond The Pale, which gets a nice Siberia/Lantsman edge to the whole notion.
The Dangerman - June 4, 2010 | 10:36 pm · Link
@DougJ:
Hey, after a couple glasses, I know my Poetry improves markedly.
El Cid - June 4, 2010 | 10:44 pm · Link
@maye: And it’s no wild roser—LIFT UP YOUR SKIRTS —no nay never no more, ‘cause I’ll plaaaaay the wild roser, no never, no more...
fucen tarmal - June 4, 2010 | 10:57 pm · Link
toledo thunderbird
Brachiator - June 4, 2010 | 11:00 pm · Link
Hmmm. How about “Coeur de Pinot,” playing on the name of the winery, Hearts and Hands.
DougJ - June 4, 2010 | 11:03 pm · Link
@Brachiator:
That is good too.
emrventures - June 4, 2010 | 11:04 pm · Link
Pinot Blah
mawado - June 4, 2010 | 11:05 pm · Link
PINO - Pinot in name only?
ks - June 4, 2010 | 11:06 pm · Link
PiNOT Noir
Pinot Noir d’OxiClean
Pinot Guy Noir [what’s whiter than Garrison Keillor?]
fucen tarmal - June 4, 2010 | 11:10 pm · Link
vinous cavaliers!
El Cid - June 4, 2010 | 11:13 pm · Link
Pinot blanchis
keestadoll - June 4, 2010 | 11:33 pm · Link
BLANC
Pooh - June 4, 2010 | 11:42 pm · Link
Not sure, but just wanted to say that the Domane Serene “Jerusalem Hill” Pinot Noir is the best wine I’ve ever had in my life.
Violet - June 4, 2010 | 11:45 pm · Link
Alpinot? Like “albino.” That’s probably a grape too far.
PopeRatzy - June 4, 2010 | 11:49 pm · Link
How about “utter shite” or abomination.
White wine made from red grapes should be outlawed. The same thinking gave us White Zinfandel.
Walker - June 4, 2010 | 11:57 pm · Link
I live in the FL region, but have never been a wine fan. The wife and I like hard cider, but the local stuff (Bellwether) is too “winy”. So I have started brewing my own.
cleek - June 5, 2010 | 12:22 am · Link
Peen?
Oh !
Just Some Fuckhead - June 5, 2010 | 12:28 am · Link
Jesus, a wine thread without Laura. Color me worried.
Cat Lady - June 5, 2010 | 12:46 am · Link
I think I’d really like Crush Camp. Daily punchdowns sound like that’d be in right in my wheelhouse, although I guess it probably has something to do with the grapes.
Ecks - June 5, 2010 | 1:30 am · Link
Pinot Jackson.
(too soon?)
TrishB - June 5, 2010 | 2:04 am · Link
I believe there’s already one wine from pinot noir that can commonly be called Champagne. Oh wait, upstate isn’t the Champagne region, no matter how much I miss it.
Steeplejack - June 5, 2010 | 2:36 am · Link
@Joshua:
Agreed.
Steeplejack - June 5, 2010 | 2:40 am · Link
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Ditto. We’ve had all threads without Laura lately.
HE Pennypacker, Wealthy Industrialist - June 5, 2010 | 2:55 am · Link
Just jiving on a “noir” and a white wine:
Black & White
Noir et Blanc (fr. “black and white”)
Magpie (bird that nicely contrasts black and white)
La Pie (fr. “magpie”...could tie in a with a cute logo)
Haut Contraste (fr. “high contrast”)
HE Pennypacker, Wealthy Industrialist - June 5, 2010 | 3:43 am · Link
Last time I tried this, my comment/suggestions didn’t make it :(
So one more time, jiving on “noir” and white:
Black & White
Blanc et Noir
Magpie (cute black and white animal, easy to logo-ize)
La Pie (fr. for “Magpie”, same as above, um, only French)
HE Pennypacker, Wealthy Industrialist - June 5, 2010 | 3:58 am · Link
Multiple posts brought to you by the Committee for Redundancy Committee.
Apparently.
shell goddamnit - June 5, 2010 | 7:42 am · Link
Pinot Gris Gris.
That Other Mike - June 5, 2010 | 8:58 am · Link
“I love you delicious wine, you’re my best mate ever, vintage 2010”?
While we’re on the subject of wine, in all seriousness, try English wine. It’s a blossoming industry, which can credibly compete in quality with the best of the continental wines.
cleek - June 5, 2010 | 9:24 am · Link
SnooSnoo
mclaren - June 5, 2010 | 10:04 am · Link
Mouthwash.
All wines taste like mouthwash to me. Must be something genetic.
Derek - June 5, 2010 | 10:35 am · Link
@HE Pennypacker, Wealthy Industrialist:
Magpie is my favorite suggestion so far.
To whoever said they are a hard cider person: Disgusting. You are terrible.
ETA: A friend of mine contends that all the best wines are the ones with animals on the label. So, another plus for “Magpie.” Although her friend had some other label-based theory that I can’t recall…
Bob - June 5, 2010 | 10:35 am · Link
Michael Jackson
Tasteless, I know.
LT - June 5, 2010 | 12:40 pm · Link
Coeur de Blanc or Heart of White. Elegant, catchy, not hard to pronounce, and consistent with the name of the winery and the name of the wine. How’s that? ;)
j henry - June 5, 2010 | 1:35 pm · Link
One problem with this is the US has a law which states all wines made in the US must be named after the majority varietal used to make the wine. Only Europe can call wine by something else (region, town, province), eg, Champagne vs our Sparkling Wine. So, your white pinot noir must be called pinot noir something. And just as MikeJ said earlier, champagne is a white wine made from pinot noir.
Stupid international law.
LT - June 5, 2010 | 5:03 pm · Link
j henry:
Hence, “Coeur de Blanc – White Pinot Noir” :D
Jamey - June 5, 2010 | 5:47 pm · Link
@mawado: Wins the Internet.
Jamey - June 5, 2010 | 5:47 pm · Link
@Bob: Tasteless, yes, but with a great finish.
Tom Higgins - June 6, 2010 | 6:45 am · Link
j henry:
I don’t know of any law that requires you to name the wine after the varietal. The only law around this is that the US requires 75% of that varietal to be in the bottle if it is being named that varietal.
LT
Coeur Blanc is currently being used by a white Pinot Noir made in the same fashion at Domaine Serene. We’ll shy away from any trademark infringement.
Our wines, to this point, have been varietal names and we’re looking for something outside our box – something dynamic, creative and can express something wonderful. Imagine looking at this wine on a restaurant wine list and being compelled to try it just because of the name. By simply calling it “White Pinot Noir” we wouldn’t want it confused with “White Merlot” or “White Zinfandel” – it’s absolutely nothing like these.
What’s in it for you?.... You get the first 6 bottles of this wine free (as long as you’re 21).
Keep the names rolling in! (Also, a simple search on google for your name followed by the word “wine” will save us some time to sort through the entries.)
Cheers,
Tom Higgins
Owner/Winemaker
Heart & Hands Wine Company
southpaw - June 6, 2010 | 10:55 am · Link
Maybe you could call it Genèse 1:4.
God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from darkness.
music discovery program - June 9, 2010 | 4:45 pm · Link
Mm, interesting ideas. Do you offer any kind of rating system because I can’t find it.
Kind Regards
Eric Nolls
LT - June 16, 2010 | 12:44 pm · Link
Sacré Cœur – Pinot Noir Blanc.
Sounds to Catholic?