You Say Gris, I Say Grigio

Gris VS Grigio Gris is French for Grey, Grigio is Italian for …. wait for it, grey! Pinot Gris or Grigio, if you prefer, hails from Burgundy in France, a region much better known for producing eye wateringly expensive Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. From Burgundy, it buggered off to all corners of the globe, and never really came home. There’s not much grown in Burgundy these days, but it might surprise you to know that, whilst uncommon, it is one of the 7 allowed grape varietals in Champagne production, and at least one producer has made a Champagne entirely from Pinot Gris. Its spiritual homes are arguably in Alsace, France, as ‘Pinot Gris’ and Northern Italy, where it goes by the name Pinot Grigio. You’ll find it in Trentino Alto Adige and Friuli Venezia, and some in the Veneto, a bit further south. Alsace makes the Gris style- which is ripe and textural and can have some residual sugar. The best of these are world class, textural wines offering nectarine. honey, richness, salinity and some kind of other worldly, umami style magic. They work brilliantly with foods high in umami… Northern Italy makes an altogether crisper style, with high acidity, green apple, minerality and crispness. These go well with sushi and sashimi, a pear, rocket and walnut salad, and fried gyoza… it works with more than that, but you get the idea. PG is beloved elsewhere too, as Grauburgunder in Germany, in NZ and Australia. Early on Aussie Pinot G naming conventions didn’t follow the logic set out by the styles of Alsace and Italy, so you could pour an Aussie grigio, only to find that it was weighty, pendulous and sense enveloping… alternately, an Aussie gris which was rather sharper and less overtly ripe. So… here a pack with 3 Aussie Gris, which are riper, more complex examples All 3 are terrific.