In any discussion of the “grey” member of the pinot family, most minds turn to pinot grigio.
That’s unsurprising as sales have soared for its light, floral (often Italian) versions with limited acidity and designed for immediate drinking.
But, that is only part of the story.
In cooler areas, the same grape produces wines that are richer, more complex, more textured and often with aging potential.
Perhaps because Alsace is so good with this richer style, wines in that format are usually given the French version of its name – pinot gris.
Its lighter alter ego is usually associated with Italy and, hence, is called pinot grigio.
Enough column inches (not all of it complementary) is already devoted to the “grigio” style.
So, today’s post takes pinot gris as its theme – and does so using the “Good/Better/ Best” hierarchy I have used before.
Once again, pictures and hyperlinks are included where possible to make it easier to track down the wine in question.
But where to start.
Like the dawn of every new day, I am going to begin in New Zealand.
Partly this is because of the surge in production there.
In 1990, pinot gris was lumped in with “other grape varieties” not even meriting a category of its own.
Thirty year later, it accounted for almost 7% of the total vineyard area and was pushing chardonnay for second place in the White Wine Category – behind sauvignon of course.
So, let’s go there for our benchmark example.
My Gateway Selection.
2023 De Luxe Pinot Gris (£7.99 at Lidl and 12.5% abv):
Gateway selections offer a chance to sample the style of a particular wine for a modest price.
That helps you decide whether to move up to more sophisticated examples.
This “gateway” is from Gisborne – on New Zealand’s North Island’s east coast and once a major part of the country’s wine scene.
Rounded with appreciable depth, the wine delivers distinctive melon, greengage and comice pear flavours.
Note especially, though, its mineral edge that contrasts well with the firm lemon acidity and oregano influences also on display.
Sweet Spot Wine
2022 Johann Wolf Pinot Gris (£11.99 at Virgin Wines and 12.5% abv):
I featured this wine a week or two back and it returns because it provides the perfect stepping stone between the Gateway selection and the superstars of the pinot gris world.
We shall look at Alsace versions of the variety shortly, but pinot gris has gained in traction on the other side of the Rhine – especially Baden and, here, Pfalz.
You will recall that this example builds on a floral opening with a backbone of delightful, ripe melon, greengage and apple flavours.
Support comes in the form of an appealing peach based texture with sharp grapefruit acidity to add to its overall zestiness.
Moving up a gear now
2024 Rapaura Springs Reserve Pinot Gris (£17.99 at Laithwaite and 14%):
As Gisborne’s white wine prominence subsided, so other NZ regions stepped into the limelight – especially, obviously, with sauvignon blanc.
However, the commercial attractiveness of pinot gris was not ignored either.
Here, an aromatic Marlborough option provides us with an example of the result.
It contains rich cooked apple, pear and quince favours enlivened by pink grapefruit acidity.
This is smoother, fuller and longer than the Gisborne version with a hint of peach based sweetness together with pith and mint elements and a quinine savouriness.
Coming to Europe next.
2023 Hubert Reyser Pinot Gris “Les Pierres Chaudes” (£17.50 at Wickham Wines and 12.5%):
Here is a wine a real finesse that will work well with food yet can also be served as an agreeable aperitif.
It is typical of the quality and distinctiveness of high level Alsace pinot gris.
Golden in colour with evolving floral touches, it is centred on smooth apple, tangerine and Oriental fruit flavours.
In the glass there is a growing ripeness and sweetness which both form part of the wine’s significant depth.
A lively citrus acidity along with a savoury granite based edge completes the picture
Stepping up in age.
2017 Preiss Zimmer Grand Cru Brand Pinot Gris (£24.99 at Virgin Wines and 13%):
One feature of pinot gris (when compared to wine made as pinot grigio), is its ability to age well.
Here is an illustration of that point with a wine that is approaching eight years old.
Elegant with enticing tropical fruit aromas, it exhibits pineapple, peach and apple peel flavours.
As its honey hints signal, this is a sweeter wine and one where aging has helped to give that sweetness a real sense of richness and luxury.
Nevertheless, there remains a savoury edge to underline the complex yet versatile nature of pinot gris.
And now a complete change.
2023 Little Bee Pinot Gris (£20.65 at Wickham Wines and 10.5%):
I have just raised the question of the versatility of pinot gris and I am going to put that to the test with this offering.
It is from Devon and involves skin contact in the way of orange wine.
Let’s be clear, wine in this style remains a niche option, yet to establish itself as mainstream.
The bruised apple aspects that go with the style will not be to everyone’s taste but full marks to the winemaker for being adventurous and innovative.
It opens with mint aromas and that funky sense that goes hand in glove with orange wine.
If you enjoy the genre – and I am one warming to the approach – the pear, apricot, grapefruit pith and tangerine constituents work well together.
By way of contrast, zesty, sharp lemon acidity neatly completes the picture.
After today’s glimpse of more expensive wine, it’s back to budget (but great value) fare in Monday’s Top Tip selections.
12 responses
You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a good orange wine,but Majestic’s Lyrarakis Assyrtiko-Vidiano Orange Wine, Crete 2023/24 £12.50 on mix six deal is a perfect introduction to the style.
I would suggest if you don’t warm to this,then orange wines are not for you.
Keep an eye out for the Vidiano grape which I think has the potential to rival Assyrtiko.
Also the excellent Waitrose NZ Ara single vineyard Pinot Gris is on six bottle offer at £9.
Brian’s Hubert Reyser Pinot Gris looks a winner and will be included in my next order from the excellent Wickham Wines.
Brian, how are the sweetness levels in the NZ Pinot Gris’s? I often find them off dry, which is why I’ve stopped buying them. Alsace, Germany and Alto Adige are my usual places for decent Pinot Gris
The Hubert Reyser sounds very good and I’ll definitely be buying some!
Hello Lisa,
Jumping in -the NZ Ara Pinot Gris contains 8.7g/L of residual sugar and 5.8g/L acidity.Some say under 10g/L the wine is still dry,others disagree.
Be interesting to know Brian’s take on sweetness.
Lisa … Paul has dealt with some of this but the aged pinot gris in the original piece is certainly off-dry.
Waitrose have a good one and right now you can get it at £9pb if you buy six at a time.
https://www.waitrosecellar.com/products/cave-de-beblenheim-pinot-gris-reserve-083227?
This is another favourite in our house.
https://www.mrwheelerwine.com/2021-pinot-gris-dopff-irion.htm?
Pinot Gris may be the same grape at Pinot Grigio but the way these wines are made and taste make them quite different. I rarely drink the Italian version, preferring Verdiccihio for example.
Thanks Clarke for adding to the list of recommended options. As you say, there are plenty of distinctive Italian white wines to enjoy as alternatives to the blander pinot grigios. Revived grapes like falanghina, fiano and pecorino are all good options.
My favourite pinot gris at present are the Alsace wines of Joseph Cattin. Their Edelzwicker
and Pinot Gris are excellent value at £9.95 and £12.95 respectively. (Edelzwicker is not a grape but a blend; in this case, led by pinot gris).
Yes edelzwicker is a seriously underestimated option and can vary appreciably as it can use all or any of the “noble” Alsace grapes.
Morning Brian …
As ever many thanks for another terrific treatise, this time on Pinot Gris. What would us ignoramuses do without your wisdom and wine skills!
No surprise where my typical shopping proclivities are concerned. I’m sure, but specifically the Lidl Deluxe gateway bottle I have had before. I don’t think I chose not to give it a second try because I didn’t like it. I did, but there’s another million bottles out there to get through as I assault the world wine card.
My wine spending this week has taken its toll on the plastic already as I indulged in 10 bottles at Sainsbury’s latest deal, yesterday, including some double-dips and your Sturmwolken Riesling from last Monday MWW was in the trolley at a princely £6.19.
So today I go to Lidl far a top-up-shop before the B-H Weekend hits. I might have the Pinot Gris again but attractively they have the Deluxe South African Chenin Blanc on Clubcard offer at £4.99. That’s a real steal!
Apologies now for becoming all geographied but your mention of Gisborne specifically peaked my interest. It’s referred to as ‘First City Of The Sun’ being the first well populated place on earth that the suns rays hit after crossing the international dateline. I didn’t need to trawl that up on Wiki’ because 37 years ago as I stood on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean as mine host, the late and much-missed Jock Berge regaled me with all details needed to look like an ‘expert’ on such subject matter. We stood by a statue of an 18th century sailor gazing out over the Pacific above the location where that sailor had landed in New Zealand in 1769.
Of course Jock knew I had tenuous connections already with Gisborne. Whitby on the north east coast of England is twinned with Gisborne from whence sailed the great English navigator and cartographer Captain James Cook. As Cook’s statue sits above the warm Pacific there’s another on Whitby West Cliff gazing out over the chill North Sea.
But here’s the thing as I write. I’m only a mile-and-a-bit from
Cook’s birthplace at Marton-in-Cleveland! Not so tenuous now in truth. And he went to a school in Great Ayton, 5 miles away, a few yards along from Suggett’s sweetie shop and cafe where we regularly go now for ice- cream-to-die-for.
Jock and his wife Barbara lived then in a very nice place right on
beach just along from ‘the statue’ where we swam in the warm North Island ocean currents in February. After they came to England to visit us a few years later, and we took them to all these places around here that I mention connected to Captain Cook, Jock bought a small vineyard and supplied Chardonnay grapes to a local co operative, until his death and Barbara sold-up. If only he had grown Pinot Gris … what a complete story that could have been here today. Ha!
Off out to Lidl … have a great weekend …
Thanks for your kind words Eddie and lessons about James Cook – I thought he was a son of Norfolk so happy to know that he was a near neighbour of yours.
Hi Brian, really excellent article – I like your features that are structured by good/better/best.
I often feel that Pinot Gris suffers, like Chenin Blanc (for example in Vouvray), by the uncertainty about its style. It can be dry or distinctly off-dry, and its texture and richness can lightish & zesty or rich and quite oily in texture – which I think is described as “unctuous” in wine-speak. Off-dry, unctuous wines, I find, are not universally attractive, particularly if unexpected, and paired with, say, a dish that is recommended for a Muscadet or Chablis.
So, although not normally overly fussy about the finer points of food/wine pairing, I find food matching key for the medium or richer styles of Pinot Gris. I think they really shine with Pork or Chicken dishes, or Pate or something slightly spicy. And as Pinot Gris is now pretty widely grown, it is fun to try examples from around the world.
I am with you on pork Richard – but then Mosel can work there too. I like the Good/Better/Best structure but it surprising how difficult it is to get comparable wines in each of the three layers.