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Pinot Noir 101

5 out of 5 starsTrusted by 20,000+ students

One Grape, a World of Expression

Why does Pinot Noir taste so different from Burgundy to Oregon to New Zealand? Follow the grape across its great regions and learn to taste the difference, and find a bottle worth loving at any price.

  • 9 chapters
  • 8 videos
  • 2h
  • certificate
$0$99.99
lifetime access · usd

30-day money-back guarantee

Pinot Noir 101 course mark

Introduction

Discover Pinot Noir, Region by Region

Pinot Noir is wine's great translator: thin-skinned, site-sensitive, and utterly transparent to where it grows. This course gets you fluent in the regions that define it, from its Burgundian birthplace to the New World coasts that reinvented it, and teaches you to predict a wine's style from its origin.

Curriculum

Nine Modules, Grape to Glass

  1. Chapter 1

    Welcome & Orientation

    Get oriented: how the course works, what you'll taste, and how to get the most from your Pinot Noir journey.

  2. Chapter 2

    Understanding Pinot Noir

    The grape itself: why this thin-skinned, site-sensitive variety is wine's most transparent translator of place.

  3. Chapter 3

    Meet Burgundy, Pinot Noir's Homeland

    The spiritual home of Pinot Noir: the Côte d'Or, the hierarchy of village, premier cru, and grand cru, and why terroir was born here.

  4. Chapter 4

    California & Oregon

    New World benchmarks: Oregon's cool-climate Willamette finesse and California's fog-cooled, fruit-forward coast.

  5. Chapter 5

    Australia & New Zealand

    Down under: New Zealand's Central Otago purity and Australia's cool-climate sites, the world's southernmost Pinot.

  6. Chapter 6

    Other Pinot Noir Regions

    Beyond the icons: Germany, Chile, and the emerging corners of the world making serious Pinot Noir.

  7. Chapter 7

    Making Pinot Noir

    From vineyard to cellar: how viticulture and winemaking choices shape Pinot's color, texture, and flavor.

  8. Chapter 8

    Guided Comparative Tasting

    Taste along with Madeline Puckette through an Old-World-versus-New-World flight, side by side.

  9. Chapter 9

    Conclusion & Quiz

    Pull it all together and earn your Pinot Noir 101 certificate with the final quiz.

Inside the course

One Grape, Four Wine Countries

The basics

What Makes Pinot Noir Unique

Pinot Noir is thin-skinned, early-ripening, and famously sensitive to climate and soil, which is exactly why no two regions taste alike. We'll cover the grape's Burgundian origins, how it traveled, and the terroir that stamps each region's style in the glass.

Goals

Taste the Regions Blind

Learn to tell an earthy, structured red Burgundy from a silky Willamette bottling, a ripe Russian River wine from California, and the bright, high-energy fruit of a Central Otago Pinot. Read a label and know what's in the bottle before you pull the cork.

Tasting

A Guided Flight With Madeline Puckette

The tasting module pairs you with Wine Folly co-founder Madeline Puckette for a guided Old-World-versus-New-World flight, so you can taste the lessons, not just read them, and learn to find Pinot worth loving at any price.

Course wines

Get to Know the World's Pinot Noirs

Compare Pinot Noir across the four regions that define it, then taste along with Madeline through the Old-World-versus-New-World flight in the tasting module.
  • Pinot Noir

    Pinot Noir

    Burgundy

    The benchmark: earthy, red-fruited, and structured, with the terroir transparency the whole world chases.

  • Pinot Noir

    Pinot Noir

    Oregon · Willamette Valley

    Cool-climate finesse with silky tannins and bright acidity. The New World's most Burgundian style.

  • Pinot Noir

    Pinot Noir

    California · Sonoma Coast

    Fog-cooled coastal sites give ripe, fruit-forward wines with plush texture and generous body.

  • Pinot Noir

    Pinot Noir

    New Zealand · Central Otago

    The world's southernmost Pinot: vivid dark fruit, firm structure, and dramatic purity.

Every region, grape, and map at your fingertips. keep studying with Wine Folly+ →

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Your wine guides

Taught by a World-Class Wine Educator

Pinot Noir spans some of the most storied wine regions on earth. You'll learn from Madeline Puckette, James Beard award-winning author of the bestselling Wine Folly book. Over 20,000 students taught.
Madeline Puckette

Madeline Puckette

Wine Folly Founder

Madeline leads the tasting experience, walking you through an Old-World-versus-New-World flight of Pinot Noir.

Wine Folly co-founder, James Beard Award winner, and New York Times bestselling author.

Read full bio
Madeline co-founded Wine Folly in 2011 and turned it into the world's go-to wine cheat sheet.

She's a James Beard Award winner, a New York Times bestselling author, and was named both Wine Blogger of the Year and Wine Communicator of the Year by the International Wine & Spirits Competition.

Her articles, infographics, and videos are what made wine knowledge feel approachable to a generation of drinkers.

student reviews

What students are saying

“Thanks for this course. It was a great introduction to Pinot Noir. I really liked the short lessons, the overview videos, and the detailed infographics. Learning more about specific aromas, different countries/regions, and how they compare was really helpful in giving me a new, deeper view of Pinot Noir! Thanks to the sponsor for making this available at no cost. It was fun to learn so much so easily.”

Romy

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Pinot Noir 101

$0$99.99
one-time · usd · yours forever
5 out of 5 stars
  • 9 chapters across four Pinot Noir regions
  • 2+ hours of expert video
  • Guided tasting with Madeline Puckette
  • Lifetime access, yours forever
  • Pinot Noir 101 certificate ($50 value)
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Next step

Ready to Go Deeper?

Wine 201 takes you from confident regional drinker to certified wine professional, taught by the same Wine Folly instructors.

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