Pinot Grigio Pleasures

Pinot grigio exploded onto the wine scene in the late 1990s. Italian wine producers doubled their acreage of pinot grigio vineyards from l990 to 2000. Indeed, the best pinot grigio wines come from the cooler northeast corner of Italy with Friuli leading the pack. To the south, the Veneto’s (Veneto being one of the 20 regions of Italy with Venice as its capital) vast co-operatives used to spew out gallons of bland pinot grigio but lately, they’ve improved. The spicy lemony flavor of 2008 Italia Pinot Grigio from Pavia in the Veneto is a good example.

Outside Italy, the grape is also starting to make a nice name for itself—namely, the pinot gris grape which is more full-bodied and best drunk with food.

In short, you can’t go wrong with great “gris” or “grigio!”