Pinot Grigio is a white wine filled with irony. On one hand, it is known as an approachable white wine; on the other, it is also shrouded in misconceptions.
We selected our example from Villa Corniole as our April 2021 Wine of the Month. Made from grapes grown with views of the Dolomites, Villa Corniole’s Pinot Grigio Pietramontis Trentino Doc is a bigger example, almost more in the style of a Pinot Gris from Alsace (same grape, French name).
During our tasting, Staci and I debunked some of the misconceptions about Pinot Grigio:
- It is not a sweet wine; it is actually very crisp and dry. It can be fruit forward, and the fruit character can be perceived as sweet, but in a small producer example, the fruit sugars are nearly completely fermented out, just like other dry white wines. (mass market examples may be sweetened but this is not the business we are in)
- It is “uninteresting”. There are many well produced examples of Pinot Grigio that are bright, with fruit, floral, and mineral characters that stand out. Look for examples like this one, with “Trentino” on the label, or “Alto Adige” (both are regions in Italy with great traditions in Pinot Grigio production). Pinot Grigio is a less expressive grape than other white varietals, but it can be interesting and easy to drink at the same time.
We talked about the Pellegrini family, who own and operate Villa Corniole. Finally, we tasted our example and also provided our methods for detecting acidity, when tasting this wine and other wines.
This Pinot Grigio has ripe and fresh lemon and apple characters, but also has some floral notes and minerality from that Trentino soil. The cool mountain breezes from the Dolomites provide a very fresh character to the wine. It is on the bigger side of a typical Pinot Grigio, and has a long finish indicating the intensity of the characters.
Have you tried our Pinot Grigio? Are there other examples you like?
Watch the video here.