This ultra-charming white grape, more accurately grey/lavender in color, is native to France. It is a mutation of Pinot Noir, like it’s sibling grape Pinot Blanc. Pinot Gris has perhaps become best known in recent decades by its Italian name, Pinot Grigio.
With all of Italy’s great native varietals, it’s odd to think that the import, Pinot Grigio, is perhaps its most popular export white wine. Most Italian Pinot Grigio comes from the northeast, primarily from Veneto and Friuli–Venezia Giulia.
When made with love and care, Pinot Gris produces wines with fresh fruit flavors that are redolent of green apple, nectarine, citrus, and great natural acidity. Sadly, the variety is often over-cropped, making wines that are thin, lifeless, and instantly forgettable. Choose wines from a low-volume producer and pay an extra couple of bucks to get a vastly superior wine.
While this grape is native to Burgundy, France, the best Pinot Gris is grown in Alsace. These wines tend to offer more honey and spice than their Italian counterparts. Alsace Pinot Gris is stylistically very different from Italian Pinot Grigio. If you know just one of the above wines, be sure to sample the others.
Pinot Gris can also be found in the USA, where the most reliable examples come from the Pacific Northwest, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany, where it is known as Grauburgunder.
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