Pinot Noir Day: 15 top-scoring wines to discover

Pinot Noir inspires more devotion – and more heartbreak – than any other grape on the planet. It’s fiendishly difficult to grow and endlessly sensitive to its surroundings, but if winemakers manage to tame it, they’re rewarded with some of the most elegant and sought-after wines in the world.

Why is Pinot Noir Day on 18 August?

Unlike some wine celebrations, Pinot Noir Day has no official founder. Even the calendar keepers who track these occasions admit its origins are unclear. Like many food and drink days, it most likely began as an American social media campaign before being adopted by wine lovers worldwide.

However, the date has stuck, and it works well. Late August straddles summer and autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, making it the perfect time to enjoy a glass of Pinot Noir.

This red wine is light enough to shine on warm evenings, but its savoury notes also hint at the upcoming autumn season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. If you're joining in online, the hashtag is #NationalPinotNoirDay.

The heartbreak grape

Pinot Noir is one of the world’s oldest grape varieties, grown in Burgundy for more than a thousand years and possibly since the Roman era. Its name comes from the French words for ‘pine’ and ‘black’ – a nod to its tight, pinecone-shaped bunches of dark berries.

Burgundy’s medieval monks did more than anyone to unlock Pinot’s secrets. Over centuries of patient observation, the Cistercians mapped their vineyards plot by plot, noticing that wines from neighbouring parcels could taste strikingly different.

This laid the foundations for the idea of terroir, which still governs fine wine today. Their walled vineyards, or clos, remain among Burgundy’s most hallowed sites. Today the region’s finest wines, led by the fabled Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, rank among the most expensive ever sold.

So why the heartbreak? Pinot Noir can be a vine grower’s nightmare. It’s thin-skinned, early-budding and vulnerable to frost, rot and disease, so it demands a cool climate and constant attention. Get it wrong and the wine is thin and dull. Get it right, though, and it can be sensational.

One grape, many guises

Pinot Noir is a shapeshifter. Centuries of mutation have produced Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc, white-skinned siblings that share its DNA. Pinot Noir is also one of wine’s great progenitors, serving as a genetic parent of both Chardonnay and Gamay.

It even leads a double life in the sparkling wine world. Pinot Noir is one of Champagne’s three main grape varieties, lending body, structure and longevity to many of the region’s best sparkling wines.

As a red wine, its character shifts from one region to the next. Cool, marginal climates produce pale, perfumed, elegant wines showcasing red fruit and delicate spice, while warmer corners of the world yield plusher, darker and more opulent wines.

That sense of terroir – the way Pinot broadcasts precisely where it was grown – is what gives the grape such a devout following.

Scroll down to see 15 award-winning Pinot Noirs from the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2026

Pinot Noir around the world

For centuries Burgundy had no serious rival, but the map has now been redrawn.

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has forged a reputation for producing stunning Pinot. The grape also excels in pockets of California, from the fog-cooled vineyards of the Sonoma Coast to Santa Barbara County.

The latter was immortalised by the 2004 film Sideways, whose Pinot-obsessed protagonist helped trigger a surge in American Pinot Noir sales, while denting poor old Merlot’s reputation in the process.

New Zealand’s Central Otago, the world's southernmost wine region, produces vivid, fruit-drenched examples. Germany – where the grape is called Spätburgunder – has quietly become one of the largest Pinot Noir producers on the planet.

Chile, Tasmania and Australia’s Yarra Valley also make highly rated Pinot, while in England the grape now underpins the country’s award-winning sparkling wines.

Wherever it grows, Pinot Noir keeps its calling cards: bright red fruit, silky tannins and a haunting perfume that no other grape can match.

Pinot Noir Day is the perfect excuse to open a bottle you’ve been saving, or discover why this famously demanding grape inspires such enduring devotion.

DWWA 2026: See award-winning Pinot Noir wines

Australia

Dalrymple Vineyards, Single Site Pinot Noir​, Pipers River, Tasmania 2024
Best in Show, 97 points
Tasmania's fifth appearance in our Best In Show selection is also its third Pinot Noir in as many years; two additional whites (a Riesling and a Chardonnay) were featured back in the 2017 and 2019 DWWA editions respectively. This wine is relatively deep in colour, with ample soft red fruit aromatic sweetness (cherries and strawberries); there are rose-petal floral notes, too, as well as cedar and graphite notes from fine-coopered oak. The 2024 vintage was mild and settled, with a generous ripening window, and the harmony and limpidity of flavour that comes from a season of that sort are much in evidence here. The Tasmanian difference, perhaps, is evident in a tightening towards the end of the palate as some sour cherry acidity creeps in to bring the flavour sweep towards a focused finish. A Pinot of style and verve. Alcohol 13.5%

Dawson James, Pinot Noir, Tasmania 2024
Platinum, 97 points
An enchanting alchemy of cranberry, goji berry and sweet cherry fruit with a cursory liquorice appeal. Gossamer texture and tactile, pithy tannins shape the palate with a delightfully energising pomegranate acidity and superb vibrant length. Alc 13.5%

Southern Light Vineyards, Ghostgum Vineyard Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria 2024
Platinum, 97 points
A garrulous indulgence of rosehip, hibiscus and spicy herbs filigreed with stewed rhubarb and sweet berries. Very ripe and densely concentrated, powered by a fine seam of oak and polished creamy texture. Unique and world class. Alc 13%

Chile

Leyda, Origin Pinot Noir, Leyda Valley, San Antonio 2024
Platinum, 97 points
A serious Pinot Noir, offering pure red cherry and floral perfume coupled with an austere mineral backbone. An unnerving tension from the crisp acidity and coastal freshness drives through the pliable tannins. Lengthy and adroit. Alc 13.5%

France

Château de Marsannay, En Orveaux, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru, Burgundy 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
This is the second Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru we've found for our Best In Show selection. The previous wine (a Malconsorts '19, featured in DWWA 2021) came from the Nuits-St Georges end of this lustrous village, whereas this wine – En Orveaux – hails from the combe of the same name, up above the Château du Clos du Vougeot at the village's northern end. Despite lying at the village boundary edge, it's endowed with all of the plush fruit brushed out with velvety tannins you hope for from this part of the Côte de Nuits. Those fruits are pure, sweet-toned and inviting: black cherry and raspberry, freshened by a little redcurrant. The wine's tannins are sweetly gratifying and work well with curranty acidity to build structure, profile and allure. It's accessible and unforbidding now, but our judges felt it would reward extended cellaring too. Alc 13.7%

Domaine Evenstad, Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru, Burgundy 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
It's been a great year for Bourgogne in this year's DWWA, with five wines in the Best In Show selection; this, the first ever Clos de Vougeot in the Top 50, crowned the region's achievement. The fact that the 50.6 ha of this vineyard is shared by over 80 proprietors swings a spotlight onto the exact position of the holdings of each, from powerful and age-worthy wines coming from vines high up around the historic Château to gentler wines made from low-lying vineyards next to the D974. Our judges, of course, knew nothing about the exact locational origin of the contributory vines as they tasted – but all were impressed by the wine's powerful and complex aromatics (the red and black fruits one might expect, but also brine, heather and rosemary). Its ‘tension and mineral richness’ as well as its length, elegance and sappy finish, too, lived up to the expectations provoked by this historic name. It's a Grand Cru of significant energy, yet its soft, giving tannins and juicy acidity will make it approachable very soon. Alc 14%

Chateau De Sancerre, Cuvee Du Connétable, Sancerre, Loire 2023
Platinum, 97 points
A bright, modern style, depicting tremendous power and concentration whilst retaining a steadfast typicity. Fragrant dark berries, leaves and bramble fruits devour graphite tannins and meaty texture, held to account by sustaining acidity. Built to last. Alc 14.5%

Domaine d'Ardhuy, Les Renardes, Corton Grand Cru, Burgundy 2023
Gold, 96 points
Exuberant baked cherry pie and blackberry coulis on a bed of shaved pencils. Extremely plush and bold with voluptuous tannins and a violet scented finish. Alc 14%

United States

Domaine Serene, Aspect, Dundee Hills, Oregon 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
Every one of our past three Oregon Best In Show entrants (in the 2016, 2020 and 2023 editions of DWWA) has been a Pinot Noir from the Dundee Hills. So too is the fourth, from our competition this year. Two of our judges spotted the ‘textbook Dundee Hills aromatics of cherry cola and sassafras’ (in the words of one; the second judge also found diagnostic cherry cola) – though these aromas might also be described as alluring dark fruits which meld with intricate, fragrant oak in a nose of inviting fine-wine finesse. The palate is supple, pleated and finely gathered, and the strawberry and other berry fruits have a cured-tobacco softness and sandalwood allure. There's impressive craftsmanship on show here – but outstanding fruit qualities, too; this is a concentrated wine that will continue to evolve and open with time. Alc 14.2%

Alexana, Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, Oregon 2023
Platinum, 97 points
Delicate red flower, rosehip and raspberry fragrance sprawls across the nose and encircles the elegant charred oak frame. Stylish, well-defined cherry and plum fruit emulsifies the juicy acidity and pliant tannins and embraces the smoky finish. Alc 13.3%

Brashley, Hacienda Sequoia Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, California 2023
Platinum, 97 points
A glorious bouquet of red plums, cherries and strawberries along with fresh pine needles and wood spice. Velvety and sleek with refined tannins, crunchy acidity and alluring length. Sophisticated Pinot Noir with a European accent. Alc 13.7%

New Zealand

Clos Ostler, EOS Pinot Noir, Waitaki Valley 2022
Platinum, 97 points
A cool climate spectacular, with wonderful soaring herbs, green olives, bay leaves, cherries and raspberries welcoming the palate. Decisive structure, shapely tannins and crisp acidity tie everything together, bringing the flavours to life. Long and savoury. Alc 14%

Nevis Bluff, The Holdsworth Pinot Noir, Central Otago 2024
Platinum, 97 points
Immaculately defined dark red berries, hibiscus and rose petals shrouded in vanilla and clove oak. Broad-shouldered with finely-hewn tannins, bright acidity and a wild thyme abundance that parades towards the long, charismatic finish. Stand out. Alc 14%

Palliser Estate, Hua Nui Vineyard Pinot Noir, Martinborough, Wairarapa 2024
Platinum, 97 points
A candescent purity of dark plums, berries and violets meets vibrant liquorice pastille energy and glides over the glossy structure. Open-knit with shiny acidity and a super satisfying finish; a beautiful picture with a strong frame. Alc 13.5%

Te Kairanga, Pinot Noir, Martinborough, Wairarapa 2024
Platinum, 97 points
An intriguing savoury intensity, combining dark iodine, graphite and nori seaweed with inflections of violet florals and berry fruits. Bold wood spice tannins and vivid acidity carry the flavours and build towards the lengthy finish. Alc 14%

Search all DWWA 2026 results

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