The Unreaching Idea of Russian Pinot Noir in Four Modes: “Not-Yet”, “Already-not” “As-If”, & “Is”
Danila Ivanov
This text explores the identity of Pinot Noir in contemporary Russian winemaking through ethnographic fieldwork conducted across wine-producing regions (Krasnodar, Rostov, Volgograd etc.) from March to October 2024. Drawing on sensory ethnography, interviews (especially 23 Pinot Noir relevant ones) with winemakers and experts, and analysis of local rankings, the research identifies four distinct modes of Pinot Noir identity expression: Is, Not-Yet, Already-Not, and As-If. These modes emerge from tensions between technological adherence (whether the wine is made from Pinot Noir grapes using traditional methods) and impression alignment (whether it matches the expected sensory profile of Pinot Noir).
Despite skepticism toward Russian Pinot Noir the grape occupies significant vineyard area (3.3% of Russia’s total plantings). Winemakers navigate this dissonance through experimentation, with many producing sparkling wines or blends (“Already-Not” mode) or (in rare cases) abandoning Pinot Noir altogether in favor of varieties like Syrah or Vitis amurensis-based wines that paradoxically exhibit "Pinot Noir-ness" (“As-If” mode). Meanwhile, ambitious producers strive for an elusive "Burgundian" ideal (“Not-Yet” mode), while only a few achieve recognition (“Is” mode). The proposed categorization not only clarifies Pinot Noir’s ambiguous status but also highlights its role as a discursive tool shaping the identity of other wines in Russia’s evolving viticultural landscape.
Danila Ivanov is a 25-year-old sociologist at HSE University, Russia. Since my BA I have been interested and deeply involved in disciplinary (scientific) knowledge demarcation problems what has led me to working expert knowledge and phenomenology of expert perception. Wine has been, rather a poetic and playful phenomena for me until I have realised that it is a deeply insightful object that articulates and may combine sociological, philosophical, psychological aspects. Around five-six years ago, ‘by accident’ I found a book on grape varieties by somehow unknown for me at that time ‘J.Robinson, J.Harding, J.Vouillamoz’, that I used as a source for interesting facts about wines that I was planned to taste. Later I started doing sociological/ethnographic research in wine-bars; then became very interested in wine history and, especially, wine descriptors; some of the research I conducted in France. After that I became a professional wine-taster and two years ago I initiated a rubric in one of the respected academic sociological journals in Moscow (in cooperation with MSSES), and with my colleagues organized an independent scientific laboratory for (at times critical) wine studies that currently actively works in in different co-related directions (wine ethnography, experiments with wine perception, critical wine history).