In 2024, it’s not news that Pinot Noir is a popular grape. The thin-skinned variety, originally from France’s esteemed Burgundy region, captivated winemakers with its elegance and freshness and has taken off over the past two decades. Now, despite its fickleness, it’s planted across the globe and is one of the most common wines seen in shops and on by-the-glass lists.
But in such a crowded market, how can consumers find the best Pinot Noirs? After tasting hundreds of wines from all over the world, it’s clear to us that some regions have Pinot’s balance on lock. In the U.S., cooler climate sites in California like Santa Barbara and the Sonoma Coast lead to bright expressions of the grape, and Oregon’s Willamette Valley also lends itself well to the variety’s earthy characteristics. Even some regions in Europe that were previously dubbed too cold for Pinot Noir like Germany, Alsace, and Bugey are starting to release juicy and delicious examples of the variety.
So when you’re searching for your next favorite Pinot, track down one of these bottles that were tasted and vetted at VinePair HQ. Here are the top 25 Pinot Noirs for 2024.
Table Of Contents
Best Pinot Noirs Under $25
Blicks Lane Vineyards Pinot Noir 2022
Making an expressive and enjoyable Pinot Noir for less than $20 is no easy feat. But Marlborough’s Blicks Lane Vineyards manages to deliver a certified organic wine with bright aromatics for a steal at $16. It has notes of tart red berries, spice, and a hint of vanilla with refreshing acidity.
Average price: $16
Rating: 89
BloodRoot Coastal California Pinot Noir 2022
Noah and Kelly Dorrance of Reeve Wines started BloodRoot as a collaboration between esteemed Sonoma winemakers to make great value wines, and this Pinot Noir certainly delivers on that goal. It’s sourced from 20 vineyard sites located along California’s coastal range, across regions like Anderson Valley, Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, Mendocino, Sonoma, and Monterey. Wafts of strawberries and earth fill the nose and the palate has the perfect balance between juicy fruit and acidity.
Average price: $20
Rating: 91
Bow & Arrow Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2022
Owner and winemaker Scott Frank started Bow & Arrow in 2010 as a project to showcase the Willamette Valley’s humble terroir through the lens of grapes popular in France’s Loire Valley. The fruit for this bottling was sourced from vineyards across the Willamette Valley, from the Chehalem Mountains to the Van Duzer Corridor. The result is a wonderfully earthy expression of Pinot Noir. There’s brambly berry fruit, forest floor, and mushroom on the palate with great acidity and mouth-coating tannins.
Average price: $23
Rating: 90
Weingut Jürgen Leiner ‘Handwerk’ Spätburgunder Trocken 2021
It’s time to start paying attention to Pinot Noir from Germany — or Spätburgunder as it’s known there — and this bottle is a great introduction. The vines are farmed biodynamically on the gentle slopes of the Pfalz region. It has bright aromatics and a juicy palate full of cranberry and cherry fruit with a hint of spice.
Average price: $24
Rating: 90
Best Pinot Noirs Under $50
La Ferme de Jeanne Bugey Pinot Noir 2022
Bugey is a small region tucked between the alpine region of Savoie and the Rhône River. La Ferme de Jeanne estate was founded in 1981 — decades before Bugey even reached official AOC status in 2009 — with 22 acres of organically farmed vineyards. The cool alpine environment comes across in the freshness of this Pinot Noir, which comes in at just 12.2 percent ABV. Notes of black raspberry and white pepper are lifted by bright acidity. It’s fun and juicy, but the subtle savory notes add great complexity.
Average price: $29
Rating: 92
Division Winemaking Company Pinot Noir ‘Un’ 2022
Oregon’s Division Wine Co. makes a wide range of wines that we absolutely adore, including several expressions of Pinot Noir. The “Un” bottling from the Willamette Valley is aged for eight months in French oak and two months in concrete tanks. It has notes of black raspberries with flecks of vanilla and spice. The palate is full of lively, concentrated notes of red plum, raspberries, and blackberries, but the fruit depth is balanced by grippy tannins and bright acidity.
Average price: $30
Rating: 90
Battenfeld-Spanier Hohen-Sülzen Spätburgunder Alte Reben Erste Lage 2019
You might be able to tell from the label that this is another German Pinot Noir. But don’t be intimidated by its lengthy name. This wine is incredibly warm and inviting. There are fragrant notes of clove, cinnamon, vanilla, and wild berries on the nose. The palate brings more tart, red fruit notes of cranberries and wild strawberries with grippy tannins and racy acidity. Pair with a plate of creamy, spicy spaetzle.
Average price: $36
Rating: 91
Pray Tell Pinot Noir 2021
This playful Pinot Noir is made from three different vineyards from across the Willamette Valley, two in the Eola-Amity Hills subregion and one in the Van Duzer Corridor, all farmed organically or biodynamically. These areas experience warm days and nights cooled by the strong Pacific winds, leading to a fresh expression of Pinot Noir. This wine was aged for 14 months in new French oak (25 percent), terra cotta amphorae (25 percent), and neutral oak barrels (50 percent). It’s extremely juicy with bright notes of raspberry, blackberry, cherry, and orange zest. The concentrated fruit is balanced by hints of earth and mouth coating tannins.
Average price: $40
Rating: 90
Paul Humbrecht Pinot Noir Matthieu 2019
The Paul Humbrecht estate produces organic and biodynamic wines in France’s Alsace region. This wine has a lovely nose with pops of cherry and vanilla. And the palate brings brambly berry notes and grippy tannins.
Average price: $40
Rating: 90
Domaine Barmès-Buecher Pinot Noir Reserve 2022
France’s Alsace region has long been known for its expressive, aromatic white wines. Just a few decades ago, the region was considered too cold to produce high-quality red wines. But rising temperatures have paved the way for Pinot Noir. This bottling from the biodynamic Domaine Barmès-Buecher estate has aromas of forest floor and wild blackberries. The palate has rich blueberry and plum notes with grippy tannins. Serve this wine with an Alsatian sausage and cheese plate.
Average price: $42
Rating: 90
Scar of the Sea Rancho Ontiveros Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022
Scar of the Sea works with vineyards across California’s Central Coast to showcase cool-climate wines shaped by coastal influence. This particular bottling is from the Rancho Ontiveros Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley AVA. It’s made with 30 percent whole-cluster fermentation and aged on fine lees in neutral French oak barrels for 10 months. The resulting wine has a beautiful woodsy note on the nose and a palate full of vibrant red fruits like cherry and pomegranate lifted by a bright acidity. There are hints of dried herbs and earth on the palate that add complexity.
Average price: $46
Rating: 93
Red Car West Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2021
The Red Car winery has five ridgetop vineyards in the West Sonoma Coast AVA, an area that benefits from high elevation, mountainous topography, and its close proximity to the Pacific. This Pinot Noir is brimming with pops of raspberry and cherry with hints of earth. And the region’s coastal location comes through in the wine’s fresh acidity.
Average price: $48
Rating: 94
Best Pinot Noirs Under $100
Marine Layer Wines Lyra Pinot Noir 2021
This wine is the platonic ideal of Sonoma Pinot. It’s made from a selection of vineyard sites across the Sonoma Coast AVA, delivering both a bright lifted aromatic profile as well as layers of complexity and flavor. Fragrant notes of strawberries and rhubarb float out of the glass. The palate is wonderfully balanced and brings more red berry fruit as well as hints of cinnamon and cream. If you’re looking for a great example of Sonoma Pinot Noir, this is it.
Average price: $50
Rating: 94
Johan Vineyards ‘Sapience’ Pinot Noir 2021
The “Sapience” bottling is Johan Vineyards’ reserve Pinot Noir, meant to showcase the powerful expression of the grape from its site in the Willamette Valley’s Van Duzer Corridor. With a great concentration of fruit and a great tannic structure, this wine brings the intensity, but not in a jammy, high-alcohol way — it clocks in at 12.4 percent ABV. It has a dusty, earthy nose and notes of cherry and blackberry on the palate.
Average price: $55
Rating: 91
Kleinlerer Wines Pinot Noir 2022
This Pinot Noir comes from the sustainably farmed Starscape Vineyard in Sonoma County. It has an earthy nose with notes of tart cherries and orange zest. The palate brings juicy red fruit and bright acidity, and lands on a slightly savory note.
Average price: $55
Rating: 90
Rhys Vineyards Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir 2021
Although Pinot Noir is a fairly predictable grape, known for its lighter body, high acidity, and red fruit characteristics, there’s still a lot of wiggle room in the winemaking that can lead to distinct styles of Pinot. For example, this delicious bottle from California’s Santa Cruz Mountains is aged in 25 percent new French oak for 18 months, which lends notes of vanilla and chocolate-covered cherries. It’s a rich and juicy expression of Pinot Noir, and while it’s perfectly balanced, it’s definitely not for those who shy away from oak flavors.
Average price: $55
Rating: 91
St. Innocent Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2019
St. Innocent focuses on making single-vineyard Pinot Noir expressions in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. This particular bottling is from the Freedom Hill Vineyard, located in the foothills of the Coast Range, where the warm air rises from the valley floor during the day and cool ocean breezes blow through the vineyards at night. This allows the grapes to develop complex characteristics while still maintaining acidity. This comes across in the wine, with deep blackberry and raspberry flavors held up by silky tannins and fresh acidity. There’s also some well-integrated oak flavors of vanilla and baking spices.
Average price: $55
Rating: 93
Failla Olivet Ranch Pinot Noir 2022
Ehren Jordan founded the Failla Winery in 1998 with a passion for producing cool-climate wines across Sonoma County’s diverse climates and soils. This particular bottle comes from the Olivet Ranch vineyard in the Russian River Valley, a site Jordan acquired in 2011 and converted to organic farming. This wine is delightfully high-toned with lifted aromas of cherry, pomegranate, and orange zest on the nose. The palate is beautifully balanced with a silky mouthfeel and a slight earthy kick on the finish that adds complexity.
Average price: $58
Rating: 94
Reeve Wines ‘Mirama’ Pinot Noir 2022
Reeve’s Mirama cuvée is a tribute to the cool-climate, hillside expressions of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, sourced from several vineyards across the region. This wine opens with bright aromas of strawberries, rhubarb, earth, and a hint of vanilla from some time aging in oak. The palate is like a rich strawberry rhubarb pie with hints of cinnamon. A wonderfully light and easy-drinking Pinot.
Average price: $58
Rating: 94
Darling Wines Azaya Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022
Darling Wines makes energetic, cool-climate wines from across Sonoma County, sourcing from thoughtfully farmed vineyards. This wine is from the Azaya Vineyard in the Petaluma Gap AVA, located 420 feet above sea level and just nine miles from the Pacific Ocean. This bottling has the perfect balance between ripeness and acidity. There are notes of blueberries, black cherry, and a nice minerality that lifts the fruit.
Average price: $60
Rating: 93
Hundred Suns Wine Bednarik Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022
Hundred Suns is a small winery founded by partners Grant Coulter and Renée Saint-Amour. After Coulter worked as a winemaker at top Oregon estates like Beaux Frères for years, the pair decided to move to a fixer-upper in the Willamette Valley and start their own estate. This bottling comes from the Bednarik Vineyard in the Tualatin Hills AVA, which was originally planted in 1988 and is still own-rooted. The nose of this wine is seriously invigorating with pure aromas of ripe cherry. This carries over to the palate with concentrated cherry fruit, raspberry, and orange zest flavors.
Average price: $60
Rating: 93
Lingua Franca Estate Pinot Noir 2022
Lingua Franca’s Estate Pinot Noir bottling is sourced from the estate’s finest sites and is aged in a combination of 25 percent new and 75 percent old French oak barriques for 12 months, followed by four months in tanks before bottling. The subtle oak influence comes through in elegant vanilla and spice notes. And the palate brings a nice depth of fruit supported by a firm tannic structure.
Average price: $60
Rating: 92
Presqu’ile Winery ‘Presqu’ile Vineyard’ Pinot Noir 2022
The Presqu’ile Winery crafts cool-climate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah in the Santa Maria Valley AVA of California’s Santa Barbara County. This bottling is made from entirely estate-grown fruit from their stunning property, which is definitely worth a visit if you’re ever in the area. It has juicy notes of strawberry, raspberry, and orange. Its vibrant acidity and barely-there tannins make this a gluggable and easy-to-love Pinot.
Average price: $62
Rating: 94
Hirsch Vineyards ‘Reserve’ Estate Pinot Noir 2021
Hirsch is a wizard of cool-climate Pinot Noir in the U.S. The estate’s breathtaking vineyard in the oceanfront Fort Ross-Seaview AVA appears to be on the edge of the earth, between the cliffs and the clouds of fog. The area’s dramatic topography lends itself to some beguiling expressions of Pinot Noir, including this reserve bottling, crafted from the estate’s oldest and most powerful vineyard blocks. This wine opens with a fragrant, herbaceous nose. There are aromas of thyme, tarragon, and vanilla jumping out of the glass. The palate has deep red and black berry fruit, balanced by a refreshing acidity and grippy tannins.
Average price: $95
Rating: 96
Best Pinot Noirs Over $100
Bergström Wines ‘Winery Block’ Pinot Noir 2022
Bergström’s Winery Block Pinot Noir comes from a site in the Chehalem Mountain AVA of the Willamette Valley positioned at 400 feet of elevation on sedimentary sands and sandstone bedrock. The 1.3 acres of vines are densely packed, resembling more of a bonsai garden than a cookie-cutter vineyard. This leads to a wildly aromatic expression of Pinot Noir with fragrant red berry notes and hints of vanilla and spice. The palate has flavors of cranberries, black raspberry, and orange zest. The wine’s structure suggests it could benefit from a few years of cellaring.
Average price: $150
Rating: 93
FAQs
Where does Pinot Noir come from?
Pinot Noir is originally from the Burgundy region in France, where it has a long history. The Pinot Noir produced in Burgundy is still thought to be some of the most elegant wines in the world, and also some of the most expensive bottles sold.
Which region makes the best Pinot Noir?
There are different styles of Pinot Noir around the world, but the regions most renowned for this variety include Burgundy, California’s Sonoma Coast, Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Germany, and New Zealand.
Why is Pinot Noir so popular?
Pinot Noir is popular for its light- to medium-bodied wines with bright acidity and silky tannins. The wines are also known for their vibrant red fruit characteristics and savory notes like earth and spice that can add complexity. Compared to fuller-bodied red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir has fewer tannins, so it can be a more pleasant and easy-to-drink wine in its youth.
VinePair’s tasting methodology
Throughout the year, VinePair conducts numerous tastings for our popular Buy This Booze column, and wine and spirits reviews. Our mission is to provide a clear, reliable source of information for drinkers, providing an overview applicable to day-to-day buying and drinking.
Tastings are not typically conducted blind. In alignment with our reviews mission, we believe in purposefully tasting all products as our readers typically would, with full knowledge of the producer, the region, and — importantly — the price.
