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Pinot Gris Or Grigio, This Grape Makes Great Wine |
by:
Darby Higgs |
One ofmost popular imported wine styles in America is Pinot grigio. Nearly all ofPinot grigio consumed inUS comes from Italy, but as we shall see this is likely to change soon. Pinot grigio is very popular with consumers, but it receives mixed reviews from wine judges and wine critics.
One reason may be that wines made from Pinot grigio do not haveconsistent and distinctive varietal character. Consumers are just attracted tocrisp which goes well withwide variety of foods.
Another problem is that there are two names forvariety in common use. The names Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris mean Grey Pinot in Italian and French respectively. 'Pinot' refers tocharacteristic pine one shaped bunch of this group of varieties.
In Australia, winemakers, marketers and wine writers haven’t really sorted out which name to callvariety. Some have dodgedissue and refer to “Pinot G.” This variety closely is related tomuch better Pinot Noir variety and is believed to bemutation of Pinot Noir. In fact invineyard Pinot grigio is difficult to distinguish from its putative ancestor untilberries ripen when those ofgrigio will have much less pigment. There is another variety, Pinot blanc which has little or no pigment inberries.
There is considerable clonal variation withinvariety. Jancis Robinson says thatvariety hardly knows if it isdark orlight grape. It has several synonyms including Burot and Malvoise in France and Rulander and Tokayer in Germany. In Europevariety is widely planted. Giveninherent variation and geographic dispersion it is hardly surprising thatwide range of wine styles are produced from it. In Alsace undername of Tokay d'Alsace, it producesrich, almost oily wine. In Northern ItalyPinot Grigio's are light and even spritzig. Undername of Rulander in Germany it produces wines somewhat similar to white burgundies.
The variety has attracted serious interest in Australia only overpast few years. It is now producing some remarkable wines in regions such asMornington Peninsula, Geelong andAdelaide Hills. Casella wines inRiverina wine region are very interested in this variety. They believe they can make first class wines even in warmer wine regions, and are devoting some resources to developingwine suitable for export toUS. Remember Casella iscompany who developedyellowtail range of wines which exploded ontoUS marketcouple of years ago.
There isgreat deal of experimentation withvariety and it may take several more years beforeoptimal combination of terroir and winemaking technique emerges. Inmeantime some great wines are already available for those who are looking for new experience. The style varies from light bodied and fairly straight forward to rich and complex wines that are almost overwhelming in their voluptuousness. This is one occasion when reading some tasting notes aboutparticular wine before buying is worthwhile.
Aboutauthor:
Darby Higgs isexpert on varietal wines in Australia. You can see more about pinot grigio on his website at http://www.vinodiversity.com/pinotgrigio.html
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