Give a gift they’ll savour all year long. Gift a Membership Now

Trans-Pacific Pinot challenge

Firstly, a disclaimer. This is not a scientific experiment. It was not monitored and verified by an independent adjudicator. It was not observed by a UN peacekeeping taskforce. The opinions in this article do not reflect the views of its parent company, its employees or affiliates. It does not conform to BSI kitemark standards. Sometimes I didn't even use an ISO glass.

But I did spend many hours tasting many Pinot Noirs in Australia and California to discover the differences and similarities between each region's best efforts. What follows is my wholly unscientific opinion.

In Northern California, the trend for...