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The Three Faces of Pinot Grigio

Perhaps it’s the conviviality we frequently feel when dining in an Italian restaurant that distracts us from the wine--especially the white wine. All too often, when faced with selecting a white, many of us opt for one of the old standbys: Soave, Orvieto, Verdicchio, Frascati, or Pinot Grigio. After all, Italian whites have, albeit undeserved, a reputation for being rather innocuous and not too flavorful.

Indeed, it seems that whenever I’m at a neighborhood ristorante with a reputation for good food and have asked the owner or a waiter to recommend a white, it’s almost inevitably Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio. In fact, that’s what motivated me to look more closely at Pinot Grigios in this month's feature. I’ve always wondered whether the lofty price that this label commands, especially when compared to its competitors, is justified by its quality. Or can it be attributed simply to skillful marketing or maybe even to its heavenly namesake? (See our tasting notes below to find out.)

Pinot Grigio is made from the varietal Pinot Gris. A mutation of the Pinot Noir grape, it generally flourishes in cool climates and high altitudes. In France, it’s at its best in Alsace, where it’s sometimes also referred to as Tokay d’Alsace. The wine is dry, with apricot, peach, and smoky flavors, as well as relatively low in acidity. It’s also not particularly aromatic. The late harvested vendange tardive is especially prized.

The grape is also found in Germany, where it’s known as Ruländer when full bodied and sweet or as Grauburgunder when dry and crisp. In the United States, Pinot Gris has been successful in Oregon, where its popularity has unfortunately led to increasing prices, and more recently in California, in Monterey and Napa.

Returning to Italy, we find the grape at its best in the Northeast, specifically in the Alto Adige and Friuli, and also in north-central Italy’s Lombardy region. The styles vary between regions as well as between producers in the same region. They range from relatively bland wines with high acidity to rich and luscious wines with intoxicating bouquets.

In fact, our tasting revealed at least three distinct styles, or faces, of Pinot Grigio. The first is youthful and vibrant with crisp acidity and subdued mineral flavors and aromas. These are generally the most affordable and range between $7 to $10 a bottle. The second is more complex in style with distinctive noses that range from herbaceous and minerally to floral and fruity. These wines also have more flavor characterized by ripe apricot, peach, melon, as well as mineral and butter flavors. They also tend to be fuller bodied and more structured. They range from $12 to $17 a bottle. The third style is even more complex and is distinguishable immediately by its pale copper color. Although dry, these wines have a certain sweetness to them. Their aromas and flavors are complex with nuts, minerals, and citrus. Their flavors linger on the palate. These are generally more expensive, with prices hovering between $20 to $25 a bottle.

When buying Pinot Grigios, look for the most recent vintage and avoid any that are more than two or three years after the vintage date. Don’t hesitate to try the less expensive ones. Many of them can be more than adequate for picnic wines and informal dinners.

Pinot Grigios go extraordinarily well with seafood, and the young crisp variety that has good acidity is great with oysters. The wine is also especially good with veal cutlets and scaloppini and provides a delicious accompaniment to light pasta dishes with either fish or cream sauces. These wines are best served well chilled.

So the next time you're visiting your favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant and want a white wine, opt for a Pinot Grigio. But when it comes to the table, take a moment or two to savor it and then join your party and mangia bene (eat well).

For this tasting, we chose ten wines and tasted them in order of price, starting with the least expensive. As is our custom, we tasted the wines first on their own and then accompanied by a pasta served with a cream-based tuna sauce.

1999 Cavit, Pinot Grigio, Delle Venezie IGT ($6.99)

Pale, almost clear in color with a vibrant citrus, apricot, and honeysuckle nose, this wine is crisp on the palate with good acidity. Light to medium bodied, its flavors are lemon citrus with hints of green grape. It has a good mouth feel and a nice finish. This wine went well with the pasta but did not appear as full bodied with it. I think the cream sauce was a little heavy for this wine.

1999 Torresella, Pinot Grigio, Veneto IGT ($7.49)

Pale straw in color with an unusual milky, lactic nose. Very crisp on the palate, the wine has straightforward mineral flavors. Overall it’s rather thin with a tart lemony finish. We chose not to taste this wine with the pasta. It might have been better with a seafood salad like insalata di frutta di mare.

1999 Barone Fini, Pinot Grigio, Valdadige DOC ($8.99)

Pale straw, almost clear, in color, this wine has a mineral, earthy nose. On entry, its creamy texture is prominent. Its dry flavor is characterized by subtle citrus and minerals. It has good acidity and a nice finish with mineral notes. It was quite good with the pasta.

1998 Danzante, Pinot Grigio, Delle Venezie IGT ($9.99)

This wine is a collaborative effort by Italy’s Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi and California’s Robert Mondvai. Straw in color, it has a nose of subdued apricot and lemon, with hints of melon. On the palate, it’s smooth and silky with rock candy and melon flavors. It has good body and the flavors cover the palate, but the finish is a little short. It’s also not as crisp as many other Pinot Grigios.

1998 Marina Danieli, Pinot Grigio, Colli Orientali del Friuli DOC ($9.99)

Light gold in color, this wine has a beautiful floral nose reminiscent of roses. On the palate, it’s rich and unctuous, as well as vibrant with good acidity. It's packed with lingering flavors of violet and honey. The finish is long and crisp. This is a well structured Pinot Grigio and one of the more complex wines we tasted. It was excellent with the pasta, supporting and complementing the flavors of the dish. Definitely one of the stars of the tasting. Find this wine.

1999 Ritratti, Pinot Grigio, Trentino DOC ($11.99)

Pale gold in color, this wine has a big nose of caramel and honeysuckle with creamy underpinnings. On entry, it’s crisp with peach and pineapple flavors that burst on the palate. More full bodied than the previous wines, it has good mouth feel with flavors that linger. The finish is long with citrus notes. This wine is simply delicious and went well with the pasta.

1998 Boccadigabbia, Pinot Grigio, “la Castelletta,” Marche IGT ($14.99)

Cloudy and pale straw in color with hints of green, this wine has a big floral and Muscat nose. Dry and creamy on the palate, its lingering flavor is predominantly Muscat. It has a long, long dry finish. This wine went very well with our pasta. This is a rather idiosyncratic Pinot Grigio and, provided you like Muscat flavors, well worth a try.

1999 Santa Margherita, Pinot Grigio, Alto Adige DOC ($16.99)

Pale straw in color with a bitter-almond earthy nose, this wine is crisp on entry. On the palate, there’s no complexity. It’s full bodied and delivers plenty of straightforward citrus flavors that linger . It has a good long finish with lemon citrus notes. We enjoyed this wine with the pasta, where it’s acidity cut through the creamy sauce. In fact, we enjoyed it more with the food than on its own. Although this is a high quality wine, I still question its premium price.

1998 Livio Felluga, Pinot Grigio, Colli Orientali del Friuli DOC ($19.99)

Light copper in color, this wine has a big luscious nose of clay and honey. On the palate, it’s full flavored with a nice mouth feel. Its flavors range from wheat to nuts to toast and they linger on the palate with subtle citrus notes. It has a soft, tart finish. There’s more complexity in this wine than one generally expects from a Pinot Grigio; a counterpoint of earth and fruit. The wine was extraordinary with our pasta. Another star of this tasting.

1997 Jerman, Pinot Grigio, Venezia Giulia IGT ($24.99)

Light copper in color, this wine has a sweet, sherry-like or Sauternes nose that masks its dry walnut and sherry flavors. Although medium bodied, its flavors linger. It has a good finish with hints of orange zest. One taster thought it more of a dessert wine at first, but found that it went quite well with the pasta. It would be interesting to taste this wine with goat cheese. Jerman has a well deserved reputation for making premium Pinot Grigio and, for this reason, we included it in our tasting even though it’s a bit above our price point.

Note: When shopping for Pinot Grigios, I noticed a number of Pinot Grigio-Chardonnay blends, for example Liabio from Rufino and another from Luna di Luna in a startling blue bottle. I’ve never tasted this blend, but would like to hear from readers who have.

TableWine is a personal website and does not sell any wine. However, many of the wines we review are purchased from our local wine merchant, Wine & Spirit World. Their web site may help you locate a good number of our selections.

If you have any suggestions for future tastings, drop us a line at the address below.