Oregon Pinot Gris
It’s
not exactly news that Pinot Grigio is and has been the
ascending star in the white wine business. What’s
interesting is how little of its mass appeal has spilled
over into that other rendition of the grape labeled Pinot
Gris, which remains somewhat of a secret outside of the
relatively small circle of professionals and other core wine
enthusiasts. Perhaps this is not so surprising because even
more so than with Shiraz and Syrah, which are also
genetically identical but have contrasting flavor and style
connotations, there appears to be a great gulf separating
most Pinot Grigio from most Pinot Gris. While the former
generally aspires to mildness and what’s euphemistically
termed “easy drinkability”, the latter is all about making
bold impressions. In theory at least, the contrasts are
consistent across all of the lines of assessment: whereas
Pinot Grigio is pale in color, somewhat neutral in aroma and
light on the palate, Pinot Gris tends to be deeply hued,
with a spicy fragrance, fruitier flavor, and fuller, richer
body. Why the radical differences?
Much of it has
to do with harvest dates. Pinot Grigio producers tend to
pick early, before there is significant color, aroma or
flavor development, whereas those making Pinot Gris are
prone to holding off until the grape is riper and therefore
somewhat higher in alcohol, more highly scented and packing
greater flavor impact. Some of the differences are also
reflective of winery practices. The archetypal Pinot Grigio
finishes fermentation dry and is not exposed to oxygen in
order to emphasize freshness; Pinot Gris is sometimes barrel
aged and occasionally vinified so that it retains residual
sugar. That’s the most widespread perception in the trade,
anyway. This neat division was truer a few years ago than it
is today, however, as the terms are becoming more marketing
devices rather than authentic stylistic markers. It’s not
quite Sauvignon Blanc/Fume Blanc yet (is there anyone who
has a handle on the message conveyed by one versus the
other?) but we’re not talking about mutually exclusive
categories any longer. Any consumer who expects consistency
out of the wine business is deluded. So there are Pinot Gris
on the market that are lean, crisp and understated, and
there are wines labeled Pinot Grigio that have more lush
textures and exotic fruit flavors. Throw in the widespread
tendency to go over the edge of perception with residual
sugar, whatever the wine is labeled, and there’s potential
for real confusion.
Even in Oregon?
Home of the purists? Oregon’s wine industry is so
iconoclastic that Pinot Gris (there was a time, not long
ago, when none of the wine made there from the grape was
labeled Pinot Grigio) is the lead white grape. The
industry’s pioneers, most of whom are still active,
cultivated Pinot Gris prior to most Americans having ever
heard of Pinot Grigio. David Lett of Eyrie planted the first
Pinot Gris in the US in the mid-sixties. The choice was made
decades ago to focus on this, at the time, rather obscure
grape because of its affinity to the state’s climate
conditions and the feeling that it could ripen consistently
there better than some of the more commercially successful
grape varieties. Oregon’s prime growing regions rarely
experience extreme summer heat (2OO3 being an exception),
but because of the northern location enjoy extended hours of
sunshine. In most instances evenings are relatively cool.
These conditions are ideal for slow but steady development
of flavor in Pinot Gris. Despite the state’s reputation,
summer and even early autumn weather tend to be dry,
allowing harvest to stretch out long enough for the Pinot
Gris crop to yield mature, fully developed grapes.
Furthermore the predominantly rocky soils encourage low
yields, which is another vital quality factor. So, adding
all of these advantages together, and despite obscure
beginnings, Pinot Gris has surpassed Chardonnay to become
the state’s number one white variety, comprising about 15%
of the vineyard acreage and, more importantly perhaps,
Oregon’s white wine flagship.
One caveat to
this generally rosy picture: a trend that I find disturbing
is the noticeable presence of sugar in many of the wines
produced today. Not because there is anything wrong with
sweet flavors in wine per se but, at least to my palate,
because there is not often sufficient acid in the Pinot Gris
grape to balance it, so many of the wines veer off into what
I would consider cloying territory. This has certainly been
true of some of the most celebrated producers of Pinot Gris
from Alsace for some time now and discovering a few years
ago that some Oregon producers were pushing the envelope of
residual sugar was not welcome news to me. If anything
there’s been an acceleration of this process: fat, unctuous
wines, fully extracted, with super ripe flavors and
sweetness but minimal acid. Often critically acclaimed,
they’re hard wines for me to figure out, although I suppose
that the spice is meant to balance the sugar. What it means
is not that other people whose palates differ from mine
won’t like the wines better (some clearly do, as sales are
healthy), but that consumers won’t know whether the
particular Oregon Pinot Gris they’re pondering buying is
sweet or dry unless they happen to know. And as many are
just discovering the Pinot Gris grape as an alternative for
the first time, this uncertainty may not encourage them
further.
