Expert’s choice: Premium Pinot Grigio

An ocean of Pinot Grigio is produced at the ‘price-fighting’ end of the market, but this Italian staple grape, which is a mutation of Pinot Noir, reveals its true worth higher up the scale. Premium Pinot Grigio sets absolute quality as its main objective.

This means using the best fruit, harvested at low yields, and giving it maximum attention in the cellar – features that are reflected in the wines’ prices. For the purposes of this tasting, the bar was set at a minimum of £12 per bottle.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 18 excellent premium Pinot Grigio wines

Premium Italian Pinot Grigio is a far cry from the easy-drinking wines that make a virtue of their neutrality.

Pinot Grigio is typically a low-acid variety that, at its best, produces voluptuous wines of medium to high alcohol: they are aromatic, rich and full, with a sumptuous, almost oily texture.

Though usually at their peak within three to five years of bottling, some of the finest examples can benefit from further cellaring – up to 20 years in some instances. They are fantastic food wines, versatile enough to cope with both fish and white meats.

To maximise that distinctive luscious mouthfeel, beware of over-chilling them.

Regional Diversity

No less than 47% of the world’s Pinot Grigio vineyards are in Italy – and 86% of these (27,145ha out of 31,360ha) are planted in the Triveneto – the combined regions of Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Veneto itself, which form Italy’s northeastern tip. No other Italian region reaches even double-figure proportions.

Style varies across and within regions. In the Veneto, easily the largest production area, most Pinot Grigio is made from early-harvested fruit and malolactic fermentation is blocked in order to maintain a fresher, crisper, more commercially oriented style.

In the Trentino-Alto Adige, the higher-altitude wines, such as those from the Isarco valley, offer greater vibrancy and more mineral notes; the lower-lying sites, meanwhile, enjoy warmer temperatures that bring out a rounder, more mouthfilling character.

In Friuli, growing conditions are rather more homogenous, and winemakers make Pinot Grigio of impressive substance and richness. Many of the best examples come from near the border with Slovenia: Collio and Colli Orientali in particular, where lavish fruit characters are balanced by the salty and stony notes from the local ‘ponca’ (marl and sandstone) soils.

A little further south, the lower-lying Isonzo DOC produces wines that are typically weighty in style.

Mention must also be made of Friuli’s traditional Pinot Grigio Ramato. Made in a similar way to red wine, fermentation on the variety’s pinkish-grey skins for up to two weeks brings out copper-coloured tones (rame is the Italian word for ‘copper’) and increases both substance and structure.

This singularly dry and savoury style is coming back into fashion and is well worth seeking out.

Michael Garner is co-owner of Italian specialist Tria Wines and a DWWA Regional Chair for northern Italy. His second book Amarone and the Fine Wines of Verona (£35 Infinite Ideas) was published in 2017.

See tasting notes and scores for 18 premium Pinot Grigio wines

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