CONSULTATION COLLABORATION & PARTICIPATION
The Pinot Noir Project
The Pinot Noir Project is a hub for knowledge exchange. Offering opportunities for interdisciplinary researchers and industry representatives to collaborate and share their findings, we encourage deeper understanding of this iconic grape variety. Through systematic studies of Pinot Noir combining cultural and scientific perspectives, we aim to examine its enduring appeal and future challenges.
We welcome participation from all who wish to explore the complexities of Pinot Noir, going beyond standard narratives and received wisdom to engage critically with current research and practical experiences from around the world.
Why Pinot Noir?
Pinot Noir holds a unique place in the world of wine. It has a long history and a complex mythology. Many producers believe that – of all grapes – it provides the truest translation of terroir. Sommeliers, wine critics, distributors and other intermediaries have raised Pinot Noir wines to some of the highest prices in the industry.
It attracts consumers who are willing to wait years to make it onto a Burgundian allocation list and join elite clubs to access rare treasures with other Pinotphiles. Despite all the discussions and debates Pinot Noir has provoked, there are always more questions to ask of this enigmatic grape.
Our Approach
Our interdisciplinary team of researchers from Business, Economics, History, Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, Media, and Wine Science start by asking questions:
Why is Pinot Noir so challenging, so desirable, and so expensive?
What creates its elevated status across all sectors of the wine industry?
Does the industry benefit from perpetuating tales of the terroir-sensitive ‘heartbreak grape’?
Are new Pinot Noir narratives evolving as climate change and globalised markets produce unpredictable environmental and commercial contexts?
We work across boundaries – both geographical and disciplinary – to bring together the best minds to answer these questions. And then we ask some more…
Oxford Symposium on Pinot Noir and Identity
University of Oxford, St Cross College, UK
10 July 2025 - 11 July 2025
The inaugural symposium on 10-11 July 2025 at St Cross College, the University of Oxford, provides an international forum for examining how Pinot Noir’s identity has been constructed over the centuries. We invite contributions focusing on the origins and historical evolution of its status, reputation, and mythology, but also envisaging how these aspects of its identity might be reconstructed in new environmental and commercial contexts.
Meet the Team
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Jacqueline Dutton
Professor of French Studies and Founding Director of The Pinot Noir Project, University of Melbourne, Australia
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Steve Charters MW
Professor of Wine Marketing, Burgundy School of Business, France
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Graham Harding
Wine historian and Wine Steward of St Cross College, Oxford, UK
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Julian Alston
Professor Emeritus Agricultural and Resource Economics, Director of the Centre for Wine Economics, Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, University of California – Davis, US
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Marion Demossier
Professor of French and European Studies (Anthropology), University of Southampton, UK
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Peter Howland
Lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology, Massey University, New Zealand
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Olivier Jacquet
Wine historian and executive project manager, UNESCO Chair – Cultures et Traditions Vitivinicoles, University of Burgundy, France
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Jennifer Smith Maguire
Professor of Cultural Production and Consumption, Sheffield Business School, and Associate Dean, Research, Innovation and Knowledge Exchange, Sheffield Hallam University, UK
