| Pinot Grigio/Gris 2007 Tasting Report |
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As of this month, August 2007, our little wine club turned
four years old. What started out as ten friends getting
together to drink some wine has turned into a full-scale
wine club with somewhere in the neighborhood of two
hundred and forty members on our mailing list. Who
would have thought? Apparently there are a lot of fellow
wine lovers out there in the Dallas area. Well since it is
our four year anniversary, I decided that it would be
entirely appropriate to go back to the grape varietal we
reviewed as a staff for the very first tasting report ever
posted on our website. If for nothing else other than for
sentimental reasons. At the time we reviewed it four
years ago, it was the hottest up and coming white grape
varietal. It is still relatively popular, but it fell way short
of ever catching up to Chardonnay. I am of course talking
about Pinot Gris, a.k.a. Pinot Grigio.
Now unfortunately for many of you that read these tasting
reports, our wine staff is made up mostly of a bunch of red
wine snobs and I have to drag them kicking and screaming
to review white wines, even when it is almost one hundred
degrees outside. Isn’t there a light red we can review,
they ask? Yes, I don’t believe we’ve covered white
zinfandel wines yet. As luck would have it though, I saw
where that wine varietal was covered earlier this month by
the Dallas White Trash Society and I didn’t think it was
appropriate to infringe upon their territory.
If my memory serves me correctly, the first go round with
Pinot Grigio wines did not set very well with our staff. At
the time, we were all more or less rookies and we just
knew for sure that it was definitely not a red wine and
therefore it could not be very good. Perhaps they weren’t
or we just hadn’t ventured out far enough on the
proverbial wine limb yet. So understandably, I don’t think
anyone was looking forward to this particular staff
tasting. Although the comment was made from more than
one staff member, it certainly could not be any worse than
the last staff tasting where we reviewed Pinot Noir. Aside
from the first two or three wines in that tasting, the rest
were decidedly disappointing.
I prepared some Tuscan style chicken and vegetables,
Mediterranean style couscous and threw together a little
bruscetta bar with a citrus pesto, sun-dried tomato pesto
and some bleu cheese and orange-blossom honey. You’ll
just have to trust me, that later combination really works
well! Try it for dessert or with an ice-wine sometime and
you will see what I mean. In retrospect, my dinner
combination was probably not at all the right thing to serve
with our wines this time. The couscous and the citrus
pesto were good with the Pinot Grigio, but I think the rest
could have used a meatier Italian red wine to do them
justice, but oh well, I was having fun in the kitchen and
now that I travel all the time, I don’t get to do that very
often.
Despite the fact most were really dreading our featured
wine, we all wound up being pleasantly surprised by the
results. We actually liked every single wine on our list
this time and that almost never happens. The range in
scores from the top wine to the bottom wine was less than
five points. That is pretty consistent. The top three wines
were separated by a mere .25 percent of a point. How’s
that for close? One thing I push for our staff to do is to
bring a diverse selection of wines from all over the world
and not just the most likely place you would probably find
them. In this tasting the most likely country would be
Italy. In all, we had seven Pinot Grigio/Gris wines from
seven different regions and four different countries.
Outstanding! Three from Italy, but from different regions,
two from the United States, including one from Napa and
the other made right here in Frisco, Texas with grapes
brought in from Oregon, one from New Zealand, which
certainly isn’t the first place you’d think of for Pinot
Grigio wines and one from Alsace, France. It is worth
mentioning the last wine for just a second here. In our
tasting, it didn’t really stand a chance because it was
radically different from the rest and made that way on
purpose. It was a Grand Cru wine from Riefle’, remember
the tasting we did with Riefle’ earlier this year? It was
made with residual sugar left over giving a thicker body
with a slightly sweet taste. Not at all what you come to
expect from a Pinot Grigio wine that has a profile of
stingingly acidic citrus flavors. This wine was really not
made to be consumed young, and even at four years old,
much older than all the others in this tasting, it was still a
relative baby in terms of its life. It should have been
consumed twenty years down the road. I was the one that
brought it and it was my plan “B” wine so to speak. My
plan “A” wine went out the window when Brad showed up
with the Santa Margherita wine from Italy.
I think all the wines from this tasting are winners and you
would enjoy any of them. It’s funny how diverse we are
even in our own group. My least favorite wine in the
tasting was our number one wine and the Riefle’ which for
me, was tied for first with the Santa Margherita, came in
last. The other thing I wanted to mention worthy of note
was the Texas Pinot Grigio. This particular wine snob,
meaning me, made it his second favorite wine in the
tasting following the Riefle’ and Santa Margherita. That
is pretty darn good for a local winery! You will see and
read more about CrossRoads Winery in Frisco a little
later in the year, right here on this website. But for now,
here are our tasting results!
four years old. What started out as ten friends getting
together to drink some wine has turned into a full-scale
wine club with somewhere in the neighborhood of two
hundred and forty members on our mailing list. Who
would have thought? Apparently there are a lot of fellow
wine lovers out there in the Dallas area. Well since it is
our four year anniversary, I decided that it would be
entirely appropriate to go back to the grape varietal we
reviewed as a staff for the very first tasting report ever
posted on our website. If for nothing else other than for
sentimental reasons. At the time we reviewed it four
years ago, it was the hottest up and coming white grape
varietal. It is still relatively popular, but it fell way short
of ever catching up to Chardonnay. I am of course talking
about Pinot Gris, a.k.a. Pinot Grigio.
Now unfortunately for many of you that read these tasting
reports, our wine staff is made up mostly of a bunch of red
wine snobs and I have to drag them kicking and screaming
to review white wines, even when it is almost one hundred
degrees outside. Isn’t there a light red we can review,
they ask? Yes, I don’t believe we’ve covered white
zinfandel wines yet. As luck would have it though, I saw
where that wine varietal was covered earlier this month by
the Dallas White Trash Society and I didn’t think it was
appropriate to infringe upon their territory.
If my memory serves me correctly, the first go round with
Pinot Grigio wines did not set very well with our staff. At
the time, we were all more or less rookies and we just
knew for sure that it was definitely not a red wine and
therefore it could not be very good. Perhaps they weren’t
or we just hadn’t ventured out far enough on the
proverbial wine limb yet. So understandably, I don’t think
anyone was looking forward to this particular staff
tasting. Although the comment was made from more than
one staff member, it certainly could not be any worse than
the last staff tasting where we reviewed Pinot Noir. Aside
from the first two or three wines in that tasting, the rest
were decidedly disappointing.
I prepared some Tuscan style chicken and vegetables,
Mediterranean style couscous and threw together a little
bruscetta bar with a citrus pesto, sun-dried tomato pesto
and some bleu cheese and orange-blossom honey. You’ll
just have to trust me, that later combination really works
well! Try it for dessert or with an ice-wine sometime and
you will see what I mean. In retrospect, my dinner
combination was probably not at all the right thing to serve
with our wines this time. The couscous and the citrus
pesto were good with the Pinot Grigio, but I think the rest
could have used a meatier Italian red wine to do them
justice, but oh well, I was having fun in the kitchen and
now that I travel all the time, I don’t get to do that very
often.
Despite the fact most were really dreading our featured
wine, we all wound up being pleasantly surprised by the
results. We actually liked every single wine on our list
this time and that almost never happens. The range in
scores from the top wine to the bottom wine was less than
five points. That is pretty consistent. The top three wines
were separated by a mere .25 percent of a point. How’s
that for close? One thing I push for our staff to do is to
bring a diverse selection of wines from all over the world
and not just the most likely place you would probably find
them. In this tasting the most likely country would be
Italy. In all, we had seven Pinot Grigio/Gris wines from
seven different regions and four different countries.
Outstanding! Three from Italy, but from different regions,
two from the United States, including one from Napa and
the other made right here in Frisco, Texas with grapes
brought in from Oregon, one from New Zealand, which
certainly isn’t the first place you’d think of for Pinot
Grigio wines and one from Alsace, France. It is worth
mentioning the last wine for just a second here. In our
tasting, it didn’t really stand a chance because it was
radically different from the rest and made that way on
purpose. It was a Grand Cru wine from Riefle’, remember
the tasting we did with Riefle’ earlier this year? It was
made with residual sugar left over giving a thicker body
with a slightly sweet taste. Not at all what you come to
expect from a Pinot Grigio wine that has a profile of
stingingly acidic citrus flavors. This wine was really not
made to be consumed young, and even at four years old,
much older than all the others in this tasting, it was still a
relative baby in terms of its life. It should have been
consumed twenty years down the road. I was the one that
brought it and it was my plan “B” wine so to speak. My
plan “A” wine went out the window when Brad showed up
with the Santa Margherita wine from Italy.
I think all the wines from this tasting are winners and you
would enjoy any of them. It’s funny how diverse we are
even in our own group. My least favorite wine in the
tasting was our number one wine and the Riefle’ which for
me, was tied for first with the Santa Margherita, came in
last. The other thing I wanted to mention worthy of note
was the Texas Pinot Grigio. This particular wine snob,
meaning me, made it his second favorite wine in the
tasting following the Riefle’ and Santa Margherita. That
is pretty darn good for a local winery! You will see and
read more about CrossRoads Winery in Frisco a little
later in the year, right here on this website. But for now,
here are our tasting results!
| Ca’ Montini 2006 – Trentino, Italy |
Notes – The nose is a little closed right
now, especially compared to some of the
others, but on the palate you are treated
with citrusy flavors and followed up with a
little hint of tangerines. Finishes a little
tart. Great with light seafood and shellfish.
now, especially compared to some of the
others, but on the palate you are treated
with citrusy flavors and followed up with a
little hint of tangerines. Finishes a little
tart. Great with light seafood and shellfish.
| About $18.00 |
| Score A- |
| Nobilo 2006 Marlborough, New Zealand |
Notes – This Pinot Gris is sweet and
creamy, but not near as sweet as the
Riefle’ below. It is unusual to me that this
placed second when it came the closest in
style to the aforementioned Riefle’ that
people liked the least. Not very sharp or
acidic like the rest of the Pinot Grigio
wines in our tasting. This wine would be
well suited for Asian cuisines.
creamy, but not near as sweet as the
Riefle’ below. It is unusual to me that this
placed second when it came the closest in
style to the aforementioned Riefle’ that
people liked the least. Not very sharp or
acidic like the rest of the Pinot Grigio
wines in our tasting. This wine would be
well suited for Asian cuisines.
| Around $14.00 |
| Score B+ |
| Santa Margherita 2006 – Valdadige, Italy |
Notes – A very floral nose with fruit
flavors like pears, apple, lemon peel and
other citrus varieties. Lush body, and not
overly acidic. This is one of those wines
you kind of root against, right? You know,
everyone is familiar with it and its price is
not very modest considering the varietal. I
used to be a hater, now I am in the lover
category with this Pinot Grigio. Having
said that, I still think you can find some
less expensive Pinot Grigio’s that rival this
wine.
flavors like pears, apple, lemon peel and
other citrus varieties. Lush body, and not
overly acidic. This is one of those wines
you kind of root against, right? You know,
everyone is familiar with it and its price is
not very modest considering the varietal. I
used to be a hater, now I am in the lover
category with this Pinot Grigio. Having
said that, I still think you can find some
less expensive Pinot Grigio’s that rival this
wine.
| Score B+ |
| About $24.00 |
| Kris 2006 – Delle Venezie, Italy |
Notes – Another wine with a great floral
nose with scents of acacia. Waxy red
apples and orange blossom on the palate.
Very refreshing! Serve with lighter foods.
I actually thought at one point that this
wine was the Santa Margherita. Hmm,
and at under half the price too!
nose with scents of acacia. Waxy red
apples and orange blossom on the palate.
Very refreshing! Serve with lighter foods.
I actually thought at one point that this
wine was the Santa Margherita. Hmm,
and at under half the price too!
| Score B+ |
| Around $11.00 |
| CrossRoads 2005 Big Fire – Frisco, Texas |
Notes – More tropical in style as opposed
to all those citrusy flavors from some of
the other wines. It also has a nice creamy
texture and is not overly acidic. Good with
lighter meats like chicken or maybe even
veal in a lemon-caper sauce. Technically
we can’t really say this is a Texas wine
because the grapes were sourced from
Oregon, but a very nice job indeed from a
local winemaker!
to all those citrusy flavors from some of
the other wines. It also has a nice creamy
texture and is not overly acidic. Good with
lighter meats like chicken or maybe even
veal in a lemon-caper sauce. Technically
we can’t really say this is a Texas wine
because the grapes were sourced from
Oregon, but a very nice job indeed from a
local winemaker!
| About $16.00 |
| Score B+ |
| Luna 2006 – Napa, California |
Notes – Lots of red apple and pears in both
the nose and on the palate. It starts off
with a citrus bite, but comes around to
finish a little sweet. Another good light
white meat wine. I was a little disappointed
that this didn’t finish higher up. I was
expecting a little more from it.
the nose and on the palate. It starts off
with a citrus bite, but comes around to
finish a little sweet. Another good light
white meat wine. I was a little disappointed
that this didn’t finish higher up. I was
expecting a little more from it.
| Around $20.00 |
| Score B |
| Riefle’ 2003 Grand Cru Steinart – Alsace, France |
Notes – Big on honeysuckle aromas with a
huge body compared to the other wines. It
was sweet and luscious and showing yellow
apples, peach and nectarine fruit. Not at
all like the other wines, but if you are a fan
of great Riesling wines, this would be right
up your alley. This wine would be better
suited for a cheese dessert course. One
last comment, if we had these same seven
wines again in fifteen years, this would be
the only drinkable wine left!
huge body compared to the other wines. It
was sweet and luscious and showing yellow
apples, peach and nectarine fruit. Not at
all like the other wines, but if you are a fan
of great Riesling wines, this would be right
up your alley. This wine would be better
suited for a cheese dessert course. One
last comment, if we had these same seven
wines again in fifteen years, this would be
the only drinkable wine left!
| About $40.00 |
| Score B |
| Just as a public service announcement, the Johnson Family Dogs, Maggie (Left) & Oreo (Right), would like to remind everyone to drink responsibly! |
| Not Responsible |
| Responsible |