I like Pinot Gris (or Grigio) from a number of places. My top 3, in order:
Alsace
Alto Adige
Oregon
I’ve had Pinot Gris/Grigio from at least a dozen other places. I can imagine confusing Alto Adige and Oregon. I can’t imagine confusing Alsace Pinot Gris with any other wine on earth. It impresses me as strikingly different than Pinot Gris from anywhere else, because it usually has exceptionally low levels of acidity, high levels of extract and an intensely earthy character.
Can anybody tell me why it is so different?
If anybody knows of Pinot Gris from anywhere else that has Alsace character, please post!
Dan Kravitz
It’s all about the terroir, baby!
The Wachau makes some nice ones in the Alsace style.
I definitely agree it is the terroir, plus the age of the vines as well, especially when it comes to Grand Cru Pinot Gris from Alsace. I would mention skilled winemaking but to give props where they are due, the Pinot Gris wines I’ve had from other regions were made with just as skillful winemaking so that eliminates this from the answer to your question.
I can’t drink Pinot Gris from any other region, though I recently gave props to New Zealand Pinot Gris wines for coming awful close to Alsace ones. The fact of the matter is is Alsace Pinot Gris is to white wine what Italian Amarone is to red wine: it’s richer, bolder, more complex, and plays the great illusion of being sweet on the palate even when the one you’re drinking is chemically dry or bone dry with very little to next to no residual sugar left.
Dan, IMO, the key factor is what the winemakers are trying to do with the wines and the variability of the vintages in Alsace…The Alsace winemakers have a tradition of trying to make late harvest wines from pinot gris, and, as a result, even when weather conditions don’t allow them to, the pinot gris is always ripe and succulent. I’ve had pinot gris from Alto Adige and other areas of Italy and from Oregon. I don’t think the winemakers’ goals with them is to produce much more than a quaffable wine in those places. But, in Alsace…they strive for the richness that can, as posted, simulate r.s. Older vines, later harvesting, and in recent years…with biodynamie choosing more and more of the quality with the climate changes there…the wines…can really get over the top for use at the table and have lots of real r.s. with the low acidity of the variety…and, sometimes, too much alchohol for their own good. It’s been a long time, in fact, since I’ve had a dryish example from Barmes_Buecher or Boxler, my go to pinot gris producers. Trimbach is another story, and , I think they have to try very hard to keep them on the drier side these years.
And, though I know that pinot gris is the variety most prone to rot…good and bad…in Alsace…I don’t know whether that’s true elsewhere? Maybe elsewhere they are not willing to take the risk, as they have no tradition of making late harvest wines in those places??? Just a thought.
Because Pinot Gris is so freaking marginal that there’s A place that it does well and everywhere else it just tastes like white wine?
Thanks to all for the cool answers.
I’m going to have to find and try a Wachau PG. Never had one.
As far as RS goes, AFAIK there IS some in a lot of Alsace PG. My experience is somewhat limited, but I have been told by several Alsace growers that there is a consensus, at least among the typical mid-sized, mid-range traditional Domaines.
Riesling is finished as dry as they can get it, usually under 0.3%RS (3 grams/litre).
Pinot Blanc is closer to threshold at .4 - .5%.
Pinot Gris is usually over threshold at about .7%.
Gewurz is frankly over threshold at about .8 - 1.0%.
Good on Jim Anderson for making excellent Sauvignon Blanc in Oregon instead of OK Pinot Gris.
Dan Kravitz
Dan - Have you ever had Donnhoff’s Grauburgunder? It can be a very special wine, though a little more restrained than Alsatian interpretations in my limited experience. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be brought into the U.S.
Yes, I think many of the good German, Austrian versions are made in small amounts and are not imported.
I happen to prefer the German to the Alsatian style because the German versions have more acid. I have no experience with Austrian pinot gris.
I’ve never had Donnhoff’s, but I have had quite a few German Grauburgunders (same grape, exact translation is 'Gray Burgundian; it’s also known as Rulander). I do like them, but it’s not practical to find them anywhere in the U.S., much less Maine. The Vier Jahrezeiten Cooperative I used to work with made excellent Pinot Gris. It had almost the density of typical Alsace but more acidity, which can be good or bad depending on what you’re looking for.
Dan Kravitz
This. I’ve had some from Italy that would be great day to day drinkers but never anything that made me take notice more than “Wow. This is good for Pinot Gris!” I think I may have had one or two exceptional Alsatian examples but by and large I just think this grape has a very narrow range of expression.
The alto adige wines can be really good, IMO.