Styles of Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio

Styles of Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio

With most wine varieties you pretty much know what to expect. There will be variations in body and color but the variety is easily identified. When you open a bottle of Pinot Noir you may not know how delicious or aromatic it will be, but there should be few cases of mistaken identity. Everything about the wine tells you it’s Pinot Noir.

Not so with Pinot Gris/Grigio, a mutation of Pinot Noir. Pinot Gris/Grigio is more sensitive to terroir than most other white grape varieties. And it’s becoming the second most widely consumed white wine in the U.S. (after Chardonnay). But unlike Chardonnay, which is made in a wide variety of styles as well, some examples of Pinot Gris/Grigio bear little resemblance to others.

In northern Italy Pinot Grigios are light and crisp. In Oregon they’re more full-bodied and richer. In Alsace they are mouth-filling and luscious. So how to tell what you’re getting? The Australian Wine Research Institute thinks it has the answer. They call it the PinotG Style Spectrum and it comes to us in the form of a graph imprinted on Pinot Gris/Grigio labels. On the left side of the graph we find “crisp, lean and racy” and on the right side “luscious, opulent and luxurious.” Seven intermediate styles are listed in the following order: dry, tangy and vibrant; lively, fresh and zesty; fruity, elegant and refreshing; stylish, soft and supple; full, round and silky; velvety, generous and richly textured; and powerful, rich and warm. The graph denotes just where along this continuum the wine is supposed to lie.

So far the PinotG Style Spectrum graph appears only on Australian wines, but if it catches on, you can be sure that it will be adopted worldwide and possibly lead to similar graphs for other varieties that vary widely in style, such as Sauvignon Blanc.

The PinotG Style Spectrum labels first made their appearance on 2010 vintage wines from the Foster’s Group. Other producers will follow suit in 2011.