Could bungling by French vintners finally end our tortured love affair with Pinot Noir? The fallout of what we'll call Pinotgate began last month with 12 fraud convictions in a French court for selling to E&J Gallo wine labeled as Pinot Noir that was nothing of the sort; it was actually Merlot and Syrah. The defendants, vintners and co-ops in southern France, were accused of distributing wine through Sieur d'Arques, a large Languedoc wine merchant, that went into Gallo's Red Bicyclette label.