Pinot Gris , or Pinot Grigio if you’re Italian, is one of the worlds great workhorse wines – unfortunately. Unfortunately, because the grape has so much more to offer than the amorphous white wine we so often come accross on restaurant lists.
As with its darker skinned cousin Pinot Noir, to give of its best Pinot Gris needs to be cropped at low rates, and preferably in a cool climate. Only then will it reveal its unique characters – a suprisingly tactile mouthfeel (glycerol like) and some intriguing flavours, ranging through the pear, nashi, quince spectrum, with a balance of phenolics rather than assertive acidity.
It is these attributes that can make it my wine of choice with asian – pacific rim foods. As with Gewurztraminer, the delecate somewhat asian flavours enhance rather than compete with the food, and the low acidity and high phenolics seem to be perfect for the occasion. And a bit of residual sugar is OK too.
At Neudorf we craft two wines to reflect our different growing sites. The clay gravel Moutere soils enhance the textural characters and quince flavours of the variety, whereas the alluvial Brightwater soils of Maggies Block lean more to the pear spectrum.
Both are excellent wines to sit alongside the asian inspired foods that are now so much part of our way of life.
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