Theme- Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris and its Italian relatives
Charity- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Boston, MA
Usual Berserker Rules Apply:
$5 for posting a tasting note
+$5 for posting a photo of the wine and your mug
+$5 for actually drinking a Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris (from anywhere)
$500 max
A good friend’s Mom just passed recently and this donation will be made in remembrance of her.
She enjoyed a cold glass of Pinot Grigio, nothing fancy, so we will expand it from there to increase participation.
Other than Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris from any location, we are looking for any white, red or rose wine from the lesser heard from Northern Italian regions.
These include:
Valle D’Aosta
Lombardy
Trentino -Alto Adige
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Veneto
Liguria
Emilia-Romagna
Hope to see some varied offerings from things we don’t drink as often as we might. Also, please share the impetus that caused you to acquire the bottle in the first place.
Anything majority Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris will qualify for the extra $5, David. The reds/whites from the designated Italian regions can be any variety or combo.
Umbria is a little too central for this exercise, so that’s a no. I was trying to keep it in the regions near and around the Pinot Grigio hotbeds, which are up north. To try and expand it a bit more, I’m going to add Liguria and Emilia-Romagna.
Thanks for the input Chris. Hopefully you can find something that works. Oregon or Alsace Pinot Gris? Amarone? I checked my holdings by region on CT and found a wine from Lombardy that I didn’t realize was from Lombardy.
Well it is now 00:01 on 12/12 here in Hong Kong (*), so I’ll jump in first with this evening’s wine. It’s not pinot grigio, but it does share several of the same letters, and it comes from Friuli Colli Orientali!
Behold a pignolo - a rather obscure grape that is one for connoisseurs of dark fruit and tannins.
Paul Thanks for kicking this off from HK and for the photo. This entry is from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. This is what we are looking for, some things we don’t normally see talked about on WB but we should have something that fits the bill in our cellars if we dig a bit.
What caused you to procure this bottle? The why is always fun to hear about the lesser known varieties or less popular regions.
I’m always on the lookout for new grape varieties to try, and back in 2019 one of my main suppliers at the time carried a number of wines from the producer Conte d’Attimis-Maniago, one of which was their 2008 Pignolo which I rather enjoyed. They only had a few, but I kept looking out for more, and in 2021 another supplier had the 2006 which I enjoyed even more, to the extent that I grabbed their entire stock of a couple of dozen to use as the red wine for my wedding dinner (which was a rather limited affair held under HK’s rather severe, and totally ineffective, anti-viral restrictions), where it was very well received generally. That wine probably remains the best wine I have had in the last 10 years that cost less than US$30/bottle (I guess excluding some Musar that I bought in the good old days before their prices rocketed up).
Since then, not least from association with the wedding, I am always looking out for more pignolos, and my main supplier of the last few years is the local branch of xtraWine, which is an Italian company so they pop up there from time to time. This Ermacola is, frankly a bit young, which is why it is best with a lot of air. My favourite pignolos have had at least 10 years of age on them just to let the tannins integrate and tone down a bit. I have also enjoyed a couple of vintages of a wine (also from Friuli-Venezia Giulia) where pignolo is blended with cab sauv and merlot to give them more tannic structure: the Piera Composizione di Rosso.
BTW I have an Alto Adige Terlano white and a sparkling sangiovese rosé (I hope rosés are acceptable) from Emilia-Romagna lined up for the next day or two, so expect another note or two from me.
As promised, this Thursday evening in Hong Kong, a rosé from Emilia-Romagna which is 80% Sangiovese 20% Lacrima di Morro d’Alba. From the producer’s website via Google translate:
Our PrimAlba sparkling wine is obtained with the “ancestral method” a process “that belongs to our ancestors” or something that harks back to antiquity and ancient uses and knowledge. In fact, peasant families have always used this home-made and natural method for the production of their daily sparkling wine.
Fermentation occurs twice, the partially fermented must is bottled, which therefore has a percentage of residual sugars. After fermentation, the wine rests in a cool place throughout the winter. With the rise in spring temperatures, a second spontaneous fermentation begins in the bottle with the residual sugars and yeasts. This will lead to the production of a light and lively perlage.
At the end of fermentation, the wine becomes sparkling and produces residual yeasts that are not expelled unlike sparkling wines obtained with the “Classic Method”.
At this point PrimAlba rests on its lees and yeasts that release some compounds that characterize its smell and taste, obtaining a lively and convivial sparkling wine to drink at any time of the day.
It’s a simple, light and very enjoyable, wine sealed under a crown top, and designed to be drunk young.
Admittedly I am not a big Pinot Gris fan. The grape just doesn’t resonate with me. It’s not a dislike - that’s reserved for Sauvignon Blanc. It’s just not my choice. That said I still experiment with it from time to time, and thus there are a few bottles in the cellar.
The 2021 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Gris Whistling Ridge Vineyard is one of those experiments. I have opened bottles before and enjoyed them. This one echoes prior experience with the wine. I like it. The spicy tones are present but not overbearing. The texture shows a touch of richness without becoming heavy. It’s also dry! This is what I remember of good Pinot Gris from Alsace before climate change turned so much of it into a sweet, gloppy mess. Well done @Marcus_Goodfellow
100% Garganega from volcanic soils (which its DNA relative Grecanico also thrives in), this wine hails from Veneto. Plenty of semisweet citrus and crushed rock on the nose. I get more nectarine than peach at the onset and a clean herbal and green apple finish. Medium body and probably should have drank a bit warmer. Could use at least another year in the bottle.
From the producer:
Foscarino is our interpretation of the Soave Classico that looks back to ancient times. It recalls ancestral traditions in order to revive forgotten aromas. Selection from old vines. Vineyards are located in the Monte Foscarino: basaltic-volcanic soil and south-east exposure of the vines.
This is a challenging theme for me as I have very little on hand but I’ll add what I can.
2021 Jolie-Laide Pinot Gris - USA, California (12/12/2024)
Kind of a salmony-orange hue, think Billecart Salmon Brut Rosé. Nose of peach, nectarine and tropical flowers. Orange sherbet push-up, grapefruit pith, very creamy texture. As it warms up from cellar temp it picks up some of that grapefruit pith on the nose, the palate is still creamy and showing some stone fruit that fades as the finish turns on with a bitter mineral streak. Scott’s wines always have a little something different going in and this one is no exception. It’s intriguingly simple.
