5 pinot noirs from 5 continents under $20

HOW CAN ONE grape taste so different? is their passion for sharing their creations. And there’s nothing like the support of the community to make their endeavors worthwhile to them. The worst thing that could happen is having to drink a beer you don’t like.

That’s the question that has been puzzling and obsessing wine lovers for centuries.

There are worse fates.

And, one more thing: Homebrewers, don’t forget to share your photos and videos using the #BigBrew hashtag and tagging @ HomebrewAssoc on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Beer note

I figured I’d share this amusing (and to me, confusing) story from Fox29 in Philadelphia.

According to the report, police in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, are looking for two suspects who broke into a local beer and soda store.

What the amusing/confusing part is comes from what they allegedly stole: slushies. Not beer — slushies. A video shows that the two suspects grabbed several of the cold drinks and then exited before police could get there.

I’m befuddled by this behavior. Not everyone likes beer, but why take the risk for such a small gain? They must have been really thirsty. Maybe they were high.

The same grape grown in one place can taste completely different in another one. Sometimes, that place can be a few feet away. Trust me. It’s amazing how similar grapes grown in some vineyards in France’s Burgundy region can taste completely different from another vineyard right next door.

The French call this phenomenon “terroir,” a word that refers to a wine’s personality based on where it comes from, its “sense of place.”

That’s why it’s often great to compare similar wines from similar regions.

It’s also how most wine tastings are done — similar wines from the same wine region (and perhaps even the same vintage) tasted side by side.

I love tasting wine this way. And I think it’s one of the best ways to learn about wine from a particular wine region.

But who says you have to do everything the same way every time?

So this week, I thought I would try something completely different, as John Cleese used to say on “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.”

This week, I thought it might be fun to taste wines side by side made with the same grape from different regions — very different regions.

The grape? Pinot noir — mostly. (I’ll explain in a bit.)

The wine regions? Five different continents — North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia. (Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any pinot noir wines from Asia or Antarctica, although I’m sure they’re out there. And in the case of Africa, the grape is pinotage, which comes from pinot noir grapes.)

And to keep things fair, all five wines cost less than $20 a bottle.

So how different do pinot noirs from five different continents taste? Let’s find out.

I also included a brief history of pinot noir for all you fellow wine nerds out there.

Hope you enjoy.

Grape history: People have been making wine using pinot noir grapes for hundreds of years. In fact, even before pinot noir was called pinot noir, people started making wine using this grape about 2,000 years ago in France’s Burgundy region. Although the