Character
The Story of Pinot Noir Grapes
Pinot Noir is one of the oldest cultivated grape varieties in the world. In perfumery, its extracted essence carries the dark fruit character of the wine itself: black cherry, plum, and subtle earthiness gathered into a singular, opulent note.
Heritage
Pinot Noir is almost certainly a very ancient variety, possibly only one or two generations removed from wild Vitis sylvestris vines. The grape appears in records dating to the first century AD, when Romans brought it to what is now Burgundy and began cultivating it in the region's limestone soils. Over centuries, Burgundian monks refined the variety into the benchmark it remains today. By the 1880s, cultivation had reached California, where Eugene Hilgard planted Pinot Noir in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Jackson in 1889. The grape's thin skin makes it both prized and challenging to grow, a quality that translates directly into perfumery: the same delicacy and depth that makes Pinot Noir beloved in wine becomes a rare and nuanced fragrance material when extracted.
At a Glance
1
Feature this note
Fruity Notes
Olfactive group
France
Primary source region
Ingredient Details
Solvent extraction
Whole fruit
Did You Know
"Archaeological evidence places grape use in perfumery as far back as ancient Egypt, centuries before wine itself became a cultural force."
