Girlfriends Wine Club: Pinot Grigio/Gris

What this is all about...

It all started with a "little" book called 1001 Wines You Must Taste Before You Die. I asked a few girlfriends if they would be interested in working through the book with me. I mean, 1001 wines, by myself? Thought that would seem a little selfish. Fortunately, I have some of the greatest friends in the world and they have willingly agreed to take the plunge with me. We have gone a little "off book" but I haven't heard a complaint yet.

As we continue with these tastings, I hope to share not only the wines and what we thought of them, but also the food we paired with the wine and recipes as needed. Food can make or break a wine and our tastings have borne that out. I want to share that information and help break the "mystique" of wine.

We are expanding our wine knowledge and narrowing our choices at the same time. The real time goal is for all of us to find a few varietals (that is what the different grapes are called) that we like and then find the lowest, consistently good price point for those varietals. You do NOT have to spend a lot of money to drink really good wine!!!

13 tastings down, 100s still to go. So grab a glass, pop a cork, and join us!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Pinot Grigio/Gris - May 2012 Tasting Notes

Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris

Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris (gree), depending on what the winery decided to call it, is an ancient grape. It is actually a natural genetic mutation of the pinot noir grape. This is typically thought of as a light, refreshing white wine. HOWEVER, there is a huge difference in this grape depending upon where it was grown. They are divided between Old World and New World. This tasting really showed all of us which style we prefer AND we had a Wine Club First; all of us agreed on 1 bottle of wine being very good!

The difference between the OW and NW Pinot Grigios is depth. OW Pinot Grigio tends to be lighter, crisper, and usually almost clear. These are gentle wines that don't require thinking. They come from Europe and, as a whole, OW wines are subtler in style than NW wines (no matter what the grape). NW wines come from the US, Australia, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, and South Africa. These wines tend to be bolder.

New World Pinot Gris - King Estate - Oregon - $12.99 @ Wegman's - this is the winning wine. We ALL enjoyed this and I think we all are keeping it on hand at home now. Very drinkable!