Today we will talk about the fine grape variety "Pinot Noir", which is used to make wine with fantastic taste. You will learn where the vineyards are grown, what wine is valued for, how difficult it is to grow a variety on your site. Discuss the main points of planting and care for the vineyards.
Fine wine and grapes
Let's start with where the grapes came from, the wine from which won the hearts of many sommeliers around the world.
Homeland "Pinot Noir" is a historical region in the east of France - Burgundy. It was there that located 3 hectares of planting grapes that have been cultivated by monks since the X century.
An interesting fact is that the largest plantings of grapes of this variety are not at all in France, but at the other end of the world - in California.
Climatic features favor the cultivation of grapes, and the finished product turns out excellent quality. 
Each company that produces Pinot Noir uses its own cultivation and fermentation secrets, so the American Pinot Noir will be radically different from the European one.
But the fullness of taste and unsurpassed aroma of wine is preserved, regardless of the place of cultivation.
We also want to tell you about such popular grape varieties as "Isabella", "Cabernet Sauvignon", "Chardonnay".
While tasting wine for the first time, you will feel a frightening abundance of different tastes. You can feel the notes of strawberries and strawberries, and cherry flavor.
The wine is made from the grapes of the same name, the clusters of which resemble pyramids with black pine cones, but the color of the finished product will have a strawberry-red hue. 
Characteristic "black bumps"
"Pinot Noir" is a very popular grape variety, which is also cultivated in our country. We will talk about the characteristic features of the plant, by which it can be distinguished from other grape varieties.
Bush
The grape bush has an average height. The leaves are formed rounded, divided into 3 or 5 blades. On the reverse side there is a weak cobweb fluff. In autumn, the plates turn yellow and acquire wine-red spots.
The first leaf plates that appear on the plant are colored light green with a characteristic red border. Shoots have a light brown color. On the nodes, the color darkens to brown. 
"Pinot Noir" has bisexual flowers that form on small clusters (up to 12 cm in length and 8 cm in width). The cluster is formed in the form of a cylinder, rather dense, with lignified comb-knot.
Important! Bisexual flowers can self-pollinated by the wind.
Berries
The berries are almost black with a characteristic white bloom. Grapes in diameter of about 1.5 cm, the average weight - 1.3 g.
The mass of one bunch with berries varies from 70 to 120 g, therefore, the maximum number of berries on a bunch is about 90 pieces.
The peel on the fruit is very thin, but strong enough. The flesh is juicy, tasty. The juice obtained from the berries, almost colorless.
Grapes are still valuable as a raw material for the production of juices, as each berry contains just over 75% of the liquid.
The average yield is 55 c / ha. The maximum possible yield is just over 100 centners per hectare. 
Landing features
Now let's talk about the proper planting of varietal grapes, on which survival rate and further fruiting depend.
For planting choose an area with gentle slopes. The soil should be alkaline or weakly alkaline. Even a slight acid reaction has a negative effect on culture. It is not necessary to plant the crop in the over-humid places, since the grapes will immediately start to rot.
Plants are planted at a distance of 0.8 m from each other, between rows you need to retreat at least a meter. The maximum number of bushes that can be planted on 1 hectare is 11 thousand.
Important! The height of the lattice support should be at least 120 cm.
Grapes can be planted both in autumn and in spring, however, the autumn planting is preferable, as the plants will have time to harden in the ground and fully acclimatize before the start of the growing season.
If you have planned an autumn landing, then it should be carried out from the 20th of September to the beginning of November. It should be understood that if your region has a more severe climate, then the landing should be carried out earlier, until the first frosts hit. 
Spring planting is carried out from mid-March to mid-May. For the southern regions, an earlier planting is preferable, as the grapes will get more time to acclimatize to a new place.
How to care for a grade
It's time to talk about caring for our vineyards. Discuss the main points that will help get a good harvest.
Watering
"Pinot Noir" does not like a wet soil, but each watering should provide moisture to the entire root system.
In order not to pour in tons of water under each bush, you can choose one of several popular irrigation options.
- Watering single pits. This option of supplying moisture will help to immediately moisten all the necessary layers of soil in which the root system is located.
- Supply of water through horizontal underground pipes. The point is that through a pipe dug 60-70 cm, water can be supplied directly to the entire area of the plantings. In the pipes, holes are made through which moisture evenly enters the ground, moistening it.
The first option is suitable only for small plantings, since it is simply unrealistic to dig a hole in an area of several hectares near each grape. However, a small landing in this way the easiest to water.
The second option involves large costs at the time of laying the entire system, but then you will only need to fill the barrel with water in time and open the tap that runs the water through the system.
Did you know? In the museum "Massandra" in the Crimea kept Spanish wine, the harvest for which was collected in 1775. A bottle of such a rarity in 2001 was evaluated in $90 thousand
Top dressing
Vineyards need to be fed three times per season. The first top dressing close up at the end of April, and all subsequent with an interval of 1 month.
In the form of fertilizer for small plantings, you can use the infusion on chicken litter, diluted in water. First, take equal parts of water and litter, mix and insist 1.5 weeks. Next, the infusion is diluted in pure water in a ratio of 1:13. 
For large landings it is better to use "mineral water", which can be easily run through the piping system along with water. For 100 liters of water take 0.5 kg of ammonium nitrate and 0.8 kg of nitroammofoski or analogue with the same composition of the main elements. 
Do not forget about organic fertilizers, which are applied at least once every 2-3 years. Each plant requires about 20 kg of humus or compost, which are embedded in ditches corresponding to the diameter of the crown of each individual bush. Sealing depth - not less than 30 cm. 
See also what types of mineral fertilizers are and what nutrients are present in them.
Pruning
Pruning is carried out in such a way that about 20-25 shoots remain on each bush. Each fruit arrow should have 5-6 eyes, on a bitch their replacement should be about 2-3.
Such a formation will allow you to get the largest clusters that will have time to mature in a season.
Shelter for the winter
"Pinot Noir" shows good resistance to frost and excellent regeneration of frozen eyes.
On average, the bushes withstand temperatures down to -30 ° C, but at such low temperatures, most of the buds can freeze. Although the plant and restore them until next season, but still worth taking care of a full shelter for the winter.
To begin with, we recommend mulching the soil with sawdust, dry grass or agrofiber. Mulch will protect the root system from freezing, even with abnormally severe frosts. 
Above the vineyards can be covered with the same agrofibre, but use a white variation. After covering the entire area of the spanbond, you will get a difference of 7-8 ° C between the ambient temperature and the covered surface.
In addition to the advantages, the material has a serious disadvantage. The problem with such a cover is its weight. If a lot of snow falls in your region over the winter, then accumulating it on the agrofibre will result in damage to the shoots or trunk.
Therefore, it is advisable to use in the absence of precipitation, when plants are suffering from severe frosts due to the lack of natural shelter - snow. 
Popular Pinot Noir wines
Of the variety under discussion, not only the wine of the same name is produced, but also several dozens of other wines, the most popular of which we describe next.
Paul Hobbs 2011 American wine obtained from grapes grown in California (Russian River Valley). Dry red wine having a strength of 14.5%. 
Did you know? The most expensive wine in the world is the 1992 Screaming Eagle. A 4-liter bottle was bought at auction for $500 thousand. Thus, a liter of wine was worth $125 thousand
Peter Zemmer 2014 Italian version of red dry wine based on Pinot Noir grapes. The strength of the product is 13.5%. 
Vina Chocalan 2012 Chilean red dry wine, the grapes for which were grown in the Maipo valley. Wine fortress - 14%. 
This concludes the discussion of a beautiful grape variety that has spread throughout the world. Thanks to its spread, we can taste Pinot Noir wines from different parts of the world, feeling these or other notes and aftertaste. In terms of growing grapes rather capricious, so this variety is not suitable for beginners. Despite all the advantages, the variety is often affected by various diseases that reduce the yield and value of the berries.
