THE FIFTY SHADES OF GRIS (GIVE OR TAKE A FEW)
Pinot gris is a richer wine, sometimes with a bitterness, sometimes musky
I think I have discovered the hardest grape to explain. It’s pinot gris. Gris? Grigio? The situation came to a head last week when a client at 40 Westt, where I work the floor on occasion, asked a waiter for a bottle of pinot gris. I imagine she was expecting the Northern Italian take on the grape: light, acidic, lemony, fresh. Pinot grigio. She
was served a pinot gris from Oregon.
She really didn’t like it, or at least at first.
I was called in to explain. From the look on her face, as she sipped it, it was as if she had ordered fish and was served a steak. I had brought her a glass of pinot grigio, explaining that while they are the same grape, pinot gris and grigio are very different stylistically. Since she had ordered salmon, I told her to not give up on the wine and come back to it later on. That it would all make sense once she had her main course in front of her.
I used to say that while they are the exact the same grape, a mutation of pinot noir, there were really two different styles of the pinot gris. But the more that I dive deeper into it, and I love pinot gris, I have noticed that there are many shades of grey.
Pinot grigio is pretty much always a light and refreshing wine. However, the spectrum of pinot gris is much wider. Pinot gris is always a richer wine. Rather than being citrus driven, it more often shows stone fruit notes like apricot and peach, and sometimes with a bitterness that reminds me of an orange peel. It can also be musky. Then there is the sugar.
In places like Alsace, especially the Grand Crus, many examples have a fair amount of residual sugar. While these wines are not necessarily in vogue these days, they probably make up 10 per cent of my wine cellar. At five to 10 years of age, they seem to eat up their sugar and rather than being sweet, they show incredible depth of aromatics.
But the trend is toward dry whites. Many of the pinot gris made in places like British Columbia, New Zealand and Oregon are bone dry, but are more textured. Think of a chardonnay with a more aromatic kick.
So as the woman was served her salmon, I brought her back her wine. When she took her first bite, and sip, her eyes widened and she told me, “These are really good together.”
Every wine has its place. That grigio she was drinking wouldn’t have done anything for the salmon, or vice versa. The better examples of “grigio” can pair with lighter seafood dishes. For drier pinot gris, try them with salmon or tuna. Pinot gris is the Alsatian meat-wine, and can be great with veal and other meats, or richer seafood like lobster. The sweet stuff is perfect with foie gras and stronger cheeses.