Pinot Noir wines tend to be of light to medium body with an aroma reminiscent of black and or red cherry, raspberry. Traditional red Burgundy is famous for its savoury fleshiness and 'farmyard' aromas , however modern winemaking techniques, and new easier-to-grow clones have favoured a lighter, more fruit-prominent, cleaner style. The wine's colour when young is often compared to that of garnet, frequently being much lighter than that of other red wines. However, an emerging, increasingly evident, style from California and New Zealand highlights a more powerful, fruit forward and darker wine that can tend toward Syrah (or even new world Malbec) in depth, extract, and alcoholic content.

Pinot Noir is also used in the production of Champagne and is planted in most of the world's wine growing regions for use in both still and sparkling wines.