Whether you call it Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio, we're talking a vine with small cone-shaped clusters (Pinot means pine cone in French) of (generally) bluish-gray grapes, gris and grigio meaning grey in French and Italian, although the actual colour on the vine vary from black through light pinkish brown to white. Multicoloured clusters of grapes with varied colours are not unusual and the resulting wines can also vary from golden yellow through copper or a lighter shade of pale pink. Other Pinot varieties include Pinot Blanc (Bianco in Italy), and Pinot Meunier, used for Champagne and red table wines.
Pinot Gris may be a mutant clone of Pinot Noir and is often blended with Pinot Noir adding richness and lightening the flavour.
The variety is suited to cool climates, maturing early with high sugar levels, which can lead to sweetness, or, if the sugars are fully fermented, a wine high in alcohol.
Wines are delicately fragrant with mildly floral light lemon-citrus notes. Depending on ripeness at harvest and the winemaking techniques employed, the wines can be tangy and light, or rich, round and full bodied, and may age well.
Flavours range from melon to pear with subtle tropical or citrus fruit, and there may be a honey or smoky component. The texture of can be very smooth, with silk-like overtones that leave an impression on the palate.
Pinot Grigio/Gris is grown in north-eastern Italy, Burgundy, the Loire and Alsace in France, Baden and the Palatinate in Germany, as well as in Austria, Slovenia, Romania and Moldova. Given that spread across Europe, the variety has acquired a range of local labels - Auxerrois Gris, Fauvet, Fromentau or Fromentot, Gris Cordelier, Malvoisie and Pinot Beurot in France, Grauburgunder or Grauer Burgunder, Grauer Mönch, Grauklevner, Ruländer and Tokayer in Austria and Germany, Monemvasia in Greece, Rulandské šedé in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Sivi pinot in Croatia and Slovenia, Szürkebarát in Hungary and Tokay d'Alsace in Alsace before EU regulations forced a change.
Since the variety is widely planted, variation in the grapes means the styles produced vary from light-bodied straight forward wines (Grigio) to rich complex wines (Gris), depending on the region and wine making techniques employed.
In Alsace a cool climate with dry autumns allows the grapes to hang on the vines, resulting in rich, full-bodied, almost oily wines with a floral bouquet, high alcohol, some residual sugar and the potential to age well labelled as Pinot Gris.
German wines labelled as Ruländer resemble white Burgundies, full-bodied with a balance of acidity and slight sweetness.
The Italian Pinot Grigio style is light, crisp and acidic, often with spritzig. The best are described as having smoky and salty aromas. Friuli produces large quantities of light, crisp white wine for early consumption.
In Oregon the wines are medium bodied with a yellow to copper-pink colour and aromas of pear, apple, and melon. Californian Pinot Gris are lighter bodied with a crisp, refreshing palate and pepper and rocket notes.
Pinot Gris is the fourth most popular white variety in New Zealand. Half of all plantings are in Canterbury and Marlborough, with wines developing rich, flinty, fruit-laden characters.
The variety was introduced into Australia in 1832 by James Busby and has recently spread to most Australian regions, though it is particularly suited to cooler areas, including the Mornington Peninsula, Adelaide Hills, Yarra Valley and Tasmania. Wines appear as Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio, with the drier wines being labelled Pinot Grigio.
Try Pinot Gris with Asian food (not necessarily the spicy end of the spectrum), fish, chicken, pork dishes or goat's cheese. Pinot Grigio styles go well with seafood and light pastas. Since it can be fairly acidic, avoid foods that have high acid contents, like citrus or tomato-based recipes.
