I just opened an absolutely stunning bottle of 2001 Eyrie Vineyards Willamette Valley Pinot Gris. Beautifully soft, complex, subtle, enjoyable. One of my WOTY. I’m now convinced that Pinot Gris is the most underrated grape out there. All that cheap watery Pinot Grigio gives the variety a bad wrap. But I’ve had three several incredible bottles in the past year or so, and my mind is now set. Curious to hear others thoughts.
The other two bottles are a 2007 Lucien Albrecht Pinot Gris Cuvée Cécile (concentrated, exotic, intense, clearly something special) and 2000 Trimbach Pinot Gris Réserve Personnelle (fresh, fruit driven, starting to so lovely complexity of age). I don’t hear talk of this grape being thought of as particularly age-worthy, but clearly 20+ years is nothing. I’m going to seek out more examples. Would love recs if you’ve got them.
Here is my TN for the Eyrie:
"Oh wow, this is good. This 21 year old Pinot Gris is in a wonderful spot. Cork was about 3/4 soaked through and broke in half as I pulled it out. Medium gold in the glass. The nose has no bottle funk whatsoever- it smells like white flowers, preserved lemons, yellow apples, a bit of honey, very pleasant.
In the mouth, the acidity is medium with a lovely medium to full body. A bit of viscosity actually that surprised me. The wine has a lovely texture as a rolls around the palate- it feels a little creamy. The flavors are of preserved and candied lemon, golden delicious apple, and a little bit of something more exotic (jackfruit? persimmon?, idk…something like that). The finish is nice a long, emphasizes yellow fruit flavors. What an amazing bottle."
I have had some wonderful PGs from producers like Trimbach, Albert Mann and Zind Humbrecht, but given that there is such an ocean of mediocre PGs out there, I would have to say that the most underrated white wine grapes out there are Riesling and Chenin Blanc.
Exactly as you said, Noah, depending on which style you’re talking about!
I’d say Pinot Gris is one of the most underrated grape varieties, whereas Pinot Grigio is easily among the overrated grape varities!
I love me some rich, even somewhat viscous and wonderfully honeyed Pinot Gris that can be substantial yet not too fat or heavy. I also love spicy, broad-shoulder and rich yet still balanced style of Grauburgunder.
But if I hate something, it is the Pinot Grigio style pioneered in North Italy. The grape variety naturally produces quite rich, bold wines with a lot of body and quite often rather high alcohol - yet the Italians in Veneto and Friuli wanted to plant that variety into flat plains and farm it with crazy yields, resulting in white wines that are certainly fresh, relatively light in body and have quite high acidity, but have no flavors whatsoever. The worst ones might be actually quite aromatic, but that’s not because of the fruit aromas in the grapes, but only because they employ such commercial yeasts that boost the production of fruity esters during the fermentation, so as long as you drink the wines young, they have tons of candied aromas like pear drops and banana marshmallows.
Of course this latter style had to become so popular that most of the producers in the new world who picked up Pinot Gris this way, began making PG by emulating this style, which does nothing but disservice to the variety.
Fortunately there are also some good producers making some very impressive Pinot Grigios in Friuli, especially close to the Slovenian border. However, I can’t remember ever tasting an enjoyable or interesting Pinot Grigio from Veneto…
Noah, Pinot Gris is almost certainly underrated and like you experienced it can produce magical bottles. Otto mentioned many producers emulating the popular Northern Italy, specifically Veneto style of Pinot Grigio. The fact that Alsace the traditional home of Pinot Gris is relatively unpopular as a region leads to the grape/style being underrated.
Back to Eyrie and the region that sparked this discussion. My hope is that Pinot Gris doesn’t go extinct in Oregon as plantings have been reducing at an alarming rate. If its any consolation at least its replacement Chardonnay is making some stunning wines.
Yes, my worry as well. I think it’s poor reputation means that people are just not willing to spend nearly as much on a bottle of Pinot Gris than Pinot or Chardonnay. So out goes the PG, and in goes the Chard. It’s a shame because it does so well in Oregon; I hope it doesn’t go the way of Aligoté in Burgundy.
And sure, Oregon Chard can be very good, but I’ve been overall not nearly as enthused as others on this board. I think excellent Chardonnay is easier to find than excellent Pinot Gris too.
At the beginning of the month, I had the 2018 Vie di Romans Friuli Isonzo Pinot Grigio Dessimis, which is an outstanding wine – rich and savory and complex. My notes are that it tastes of salty strawberries and caramelized pears. It is effectively an orange wine, though only lightly colored, and it is certainly a demonstration, as Otto Forsberg noted, that conscientious producers can make high-quality wines from a grape that usually ends up in wines that are crisp and bland.
I wholeheartedly agree. The 2015 Eyrie Original Vines Pinot Gris and the 2010 Matello (Goodfellow) Pinot Gris are two of the finest white wines I’ve had out of Oregon (including the Chardonnays from both producers). Unfortunately, it does come down to economics. There is a lower assumed value of Pinot Gris in the bottle which further leads to growers to not being willing to invest in high end Pinot Gris vineyards. David Lett was a visionary.
Just had a 2000 Vendange Tardive Pinot Gris from Trimbach. Very nice apricot-lemon flavors, every mouthful something to savor, alas had a pretty short finish.
But I couldn’t help but think the whole time that a Gewürztraminer or Riesling would have been more complex, had a bit more of a backbone, and had some more interesting flavors (and I’ve tried some other VTs from those varietals, with excellent results). On the other hand, I suspect those would have cost considerably more than the $58 that I paid for that bottle.
Also recently had a skin contact Pinot Gris (from Union Sacré) that was good, but again a bit underwhelming compared to other skin-contact Alsatian varietals that I’ve had.
That said, just this weekend I tried a sparkling Pinot Gris (from Hammerling Wines in Berkeley, sourced from Eden Rift in San Benito County) that definitely exceeded expectations and made me interested in seeking out sparkling Pinot Gris more.
I’m glad that people are experimenting with using Pinot Gris, but it’s also not something that I would generally choose unless the price point was lower than comparable other whites.
I particularly gravitate to the PGs that have had some decent time on the skins and take on a pink colouration - they seem to pick up some extra oomph from that.
Did you try Hammerling’s sparkling riesling? I think the fact you liked their pg has to due with the quality of their sparklers in general and what you say about Alsatian VTs probably applies here, as well.
The rare (only one, really) Alsatian producer I can think of where I would rather have their PG over riesling or gewürz is Albert Mann, but it has been years since I have had anything from them at all.
Interesting timing, as I just had a 2016 Eyrie Pinot Gris this weekend. It was one of the more memorable bottles I’ve had this year, even at just six years old. It’s got enough age to have really come together - I find Eyrie’s whites to have a really distinct awkward edge to them when they’re young, and frankly I think they’d be easy to dismiss if you haven’t had one with a few years of bottle age.
Their Pinot Blanc is the same way: Unmemorable and almost harsh upon release, it gets beefier and super well knit after about five years.
Eyrie’s 1988 Pinot Gris is one of the better wines I’ve had the pleasure of drinking as well.
There’s at least one Champagne producer making varietal PG Champagne and a handful of producers who employ small amounts of PG in their blends. So there’s a start if you want to find something interesting!
I was turned off Alsatian pinot gris back in the 1990s by flabby renderings with some residual sugar. I guess I should check out the category again.
My favorites have been from Germany. Donnhoff makes an excellent one that is not imported into the US, so far as I know. I found a bottle in Vancouver a couple of years ago that I’ve been sitting on. (Donnhoff’s '99 drank very well up through the mid-2000s.)
@John_Morris I am not sure which Dönnhoff you mean. Skurnik brings in both the regular Grauburgunder and the Graubrugunder S, which is the reserve in new oak. I don’t think Dönnhoff makes any other pure Pinot Gris, though they do also have cuvees with it.
