Chris BerryFounder, Wine Underdogs — chasing the world’s overlooked grapesIf you like Pinot Noir, try Trousseau from the Jura first: it has both the perfume and the lightness. Mencía and Nerello Mascalese give you the perfume with more structure; Schiava gives you the lightness.
If you love Pinot Noir, you love one of two things about it: the perfume or the lightness. Trousseau gives you both. Mencía and Nerello Mascalese give you the perfume, with more structure than Pinot usually brings. Schiava gives you the lightness, and then some. The great Pinots are sublime, and the affordable ones are often thin or sour. These four do what Pinot does, and nobody has bid their prices up yet.
The short answer
- Mencía (Spain): violets, red fruit and a cool mineral lift. One of the best values in red wine.
- Schiava (Italy): pale, low in tannin, strawberry and violet. The most low-stakes red here.
- Trousseau (France): pale, savory, red-fruited and wild. The one the geeks chase.
- Nerello Mascalese (Italy): red cherry, orange peel and ash, tense and firm. Italy's answer to red Burgundy's nerve.
Which half of Pinot Noir do you miss?
Pinot Noir's gift is that it flatters food instead of flattening it. Some of that is the nose: violets, red fruit, a cool lift that makes the glass smell like a garden. Some of it is the frame: pale, light on its feet, never clobbering you with tannin. So "like Pinot Noir" is really two requests. If you want the perfume, you want an aromatic red that can carry a little more grip. If you want the lightness, you want a red pale enough to chill.
| Grape | Gives you | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Mencía | Perfume | Medium |
| Schiava | Lightness | Featherweight |
| Trousseau | Both | Light |
| Nerello Mascalese | Perfume, structure | Medium, firm |
Mencía: the fragrant one
Bierzo, Spain · medium body · men-THEE-ah
Mencía makes an aromatic, fresh red with the same ability to smell like a garden and drink like a breeze. The site's profile records raspberry, pomegranate, graphite and bay leaf, with real acidity holding it together.
Versus Pinot Noir: if your favorite thing about Pinot is the nose, start here. Violets, red fruit and that cool mineral lift are all present, and bottle for bottle it's one of the best values in red wine.
The catch: it's medium-bodied, a step fuller than the lightest Pinot. If weightlessness is the point for you, Schiava or Trousseau is the closer match.
Look for: a producer your shop stands behind, and ask them by name.
Schiava: the feather-light one
Alto Adige, Italy · featherweight, low tannin · skee-AH-vah
Schiava is pale and low in tannin, faintly sweet-smelling of cotton candy and violets, with strawberry and almond underneath. It's genuinely lovely with a slight chill, and it's the most low-stakes red on this list.
Versus Pinot Noir: if you drink Pinot because you don't want to be clobbered, Schiava is lighter still. Think of it as a featherweight Pinot, made for a warm evening rather than a cellar.
The catch: it will never be a status wine. It's light, cheap, unpretentious and meant to be drunk young, and if you want structure in a red, it reads as thin rather than refreshing.
Look for: a producer your shop stands behind, and ask them by name. On German-language labels it's sold as Vernatsch.
Trousseau: the cult one
Jura, France · light, pale · troo-SOH
If you've graduated to the natural-wine end of the Pinot shelf, the pale, savory, slightly wild bottles, Trousseau is where the geeks go next. It's light in color and big in aroma: red currant, cranberry, earth and a twist of white pepper.
Versus Pinot Noir: it gives you both halves at once, the perfume and the pale, easy frame. It drinks like a savory, wild-edged Pinot from a cooler, stranger place.
The catch: Jura bottles come and go, so you often buy what you find rather than what you planned. It's genuinely pale and low in tannin, and anyone expecting a substantial red will feel short-changed.
Look for: a producer your shop stands behind, and ask them by name.
Read the Trousseau deep dive →
Nerello Mascalese: the elegant one
Mount Etna, Sicily, Italy · medium body, firm · neh-REL-loh mas-kah-LEH-zeh
Grown on the slopes of Mount Etna, Nerello Mascalese is the volcanic answer to high-altitude Pinot: pale, perfumed, firm and unmistakably a wine of somewhere. Expect red cherry, orange peel, ash and dried herb over high acidity.
Versus Pinot Noir: if what you love is tense, mineral, structured Pinot, this is your bottle. It's the closest thing Italy has to red Burgundy's nerve.
The catch: it's firmer than it looks. The color is pale, but the tannin has real grip, so if you want Pinot's softness, start with Schiava instead.
Look for: a producer your shop stands behind, and ask them by name.
Read the Nerello Mascalese deep dive →
Finding a bottle
US availability is uneven, but Trousseau was easier to find this month than I've said before. The Domaine Rolet in the box above was in stock at Wine.com when I checked in October 2026, and the same search listed Jura Trousseau from Domaine de la Touraize, Overnoy-Crinquand and Pignier; I didn't open those pages, so check stock yourself. I haven't confirmed a Mencía, Schiava or Nerello Mascalese online this month, so take the grape names above to your local shop and ask for them by name.
One thing I owe you plainly: I haven't scored these bottles side by side yet. When I have, the scores go here, and this guide gets shorter.
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Frequently asked questions
What red wines are similar to Pinot Noir?
Trousseau from the Jura gives you both Pinot's perfume and its lightness. Mencía from Bierzo and Nerello Mascalese from Mount Etna give you the perfume with more structure. Schiava from Alto Adige gives you the lightness, and then some.
What is the closest wine to Pinot Noir?
Trousseau, from the Jura in France: pale, savory and red-fruited, with red currant, cranberry, earth and a twist of white pepper. It drinks like a savory, wild-edged Pinot from a cooler, stranger place.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Pinot Noir?
Mencía is one of the best values in red wine, with Pinot's violets, red fruit and cool mineral lift. Schiava is the most low-stakes red of the four, light and meant to be drunk young.
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