Tiefenbrunner Pinot Grigio 2005 ($16) sounds German or Austrian, but it comes from Alto Adige. I guess Villanova knows a thing or two about making Pinot Grigio they’ve been making wine since 1499. It actually drinks lighter than it looks: It’s Mohave desert-dry, well-balanced and would nicely compliment a big bowl of cioppino. This Friulian wine has earthy mineral aromas with some honey-maple scents on top. This vintage has a deep, golden color that I don’t usually expect from Pinot Gris, which tends normally to be the color of straw. Wait for a newer vintage to arrive.Ĭompared to the light, almost lemon-colored Zuccole, Tenuta Villanova Pinot Grigio 2005 ($13) looks in the glass like Chardonnay. However, the 2005 bottle I sampled recently tasted flabby, over-the-hill and slightly maderized despite the composite cork.
This Friuli wine is unoaked and typically features pear, citrus and green apple flavors. In the past, I’ve been a fan of Giovanni Puiatti Zuccole Pinot Grigio ($16). It’s one of the more passionate Pinots from Italy I’ve tasted, and it would be terrific, I think, with the white pizza at Este. For instance, the wine Dave Heiblim told me about: Abbazia di Novacella Pinot Grigio 2006 ($20) from Alto Adige has subtle banana-lemon scents and is more full-bodied than most Pinot Grigio, with pretty apricot and tangerine flavors and a surprisingly long finish. There are examples of Pinot Grigio that are just as good and not as expensive. It used to be one of my favorite versions of Pinot Grigio as well until the wine’s popularity and price crept out of my range ($24). The most popular Pinot Grigio sold in this country is Santa Margherita from Trentino-Alto Adige. The grape itself often has a grayish hue (hence the French term “gris,” which means gray) and yields a dry white wine which is typically light, crisp and fruity, with a hint of nuts (almonds mostly). Most Italian Pinot Grigio comes from Italy’s northernmost wine regions of Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige and especially Friuli-Venezia Giulia, but Pinot Grigio is also grown and made in Umbria and Emilia-Romagna. And get this: Pinot Grigio is the single most popular imported wine in this country, accounting for around 12 percent of the imported wine market. Pinot Grigio-or Pinot Gris here and in Alsace-can be a great food wine as well as a refreshing summer sipper.
And, too often, that’s exactly what it is.īut it doesn’t have to be. Most people, if they think about it at all, consider Pinot Grigio to be a humdrum, flimsy little summer cottage of a wine with few or no redeeming characteristics. I was a bit surprised because no one is ever enthusiastic about Pinot Grigio. He was showing me the new Este wine menu (Yes! Este now serves wine!) and mentioned a Pinot Grigio that he really likes. Recently, I dropped into Este pizzeria ( ) and was chatting with owner and unrepentant Yankees fan Dave Heiblim.
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