Tag Archives: pinot gris

Wine of the week: A to Z Pinot Gris 2015

A to Z Pinot GrisThe A to Z pinot gris is widely available, well made, and shows off the Oregon style

Once, for a cheap wine talk, I used an A to Z wine. The audience was mostly dumbfounded, since they had never heard of A to Z, an Oregon producer, and didn’t believe that a wine without the Winestream Media seal of approval could be that well done.

Well, it is, and the A to Z pinot gris ($14, sample, 13.5%) is just one more example.

Pinot gris is the same grape as the Italian pinot grigio; the difference is in approach and terroir. The Italians prefer an austere, almost tonic water wine, with little fruit, while the Oregon style has lime and tropical fruit with a fuller and richer middle. The A to Z pinot gris is firmly in the Oregon camp, and the lime and lime zest practically jump around your mouth. The finish isn’t what it could be – a bit bitter, from all the acidity in the wine – but it’s still enjoyable and worth drinking.

Drink this chilled, and it’s yet another white wine as summer arrives, either for porch sipping, for chicken on the grill, or those bratwursts have that been sitting in the freezer.

A word about the price – the winery sells the wine for $15, it’s $14 on Wine-Searcher, and I’ve seen it for as little as $10 or $12 in grocery stores and the largest chain retailers. At $10 or $12, it’s that much more of a value.

Mini-reviews 82: Mateus, Kermit Lynch, Muga, Yealands

Kermit lynchReviews of wines that don ?t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the fourth Friday of each month.

? Mateus Rose NV ($5, purchased, 11%): I don’t remember this wine, popular when I was in high school, tasting like raspberry 7 Up. But that was a long time ago. The wine has been repackaged since then, so that it’s in a clear glass bottle instead of the traditional green and doesn’t look quite the same as it did. And maybe it did taste like raspberry 7 Up all those years ago, which isn’t offensive — just odd.

? Chateau Graville-Lacoste Graves 2014 ($20, purchased, 12%): The legendary Kermit Lynch imports this French white Bordeaux, and it’s another example why you should buy any wine that has Lynch’s name on it. Look for freshness, minerality, and a clean sort of citrus flavor. Well worth every penny of the $20 it cost.

? Muga Rioja Reserva 2011 ($23, purchased, 13%): This Spanish tempranillo blend from one of my favorite producers was much lusher and fruitier than I expected, without as much of the tart cherry acidity and herbal appeal that I like about wines from the Rioja region. Having said that, it’s well worth drinking, and should age for close to forever. As it does, the fruit and oak will probably give way to more traditional flavors.

?Peter Yealands Pinot Gris 2014 ($12, purchased, 13%): Why grocery store wine makes me crazy. Yealands is a respected New Zealand producer, and this white should have been delicious. But the bottle I bought was a previous vintage that was bitter and pithy on the back, and much of the fruit, freshness and crispness — hallmarks of pinot gris — were gone. Who knows how long it was sitting and baking in some warehouse? Did anyone at Kroger care?

Mini-reviews 70: Ponzi, white Rhone, lemberger, pinot blanc

wine reviews PonziReviews of wines that don ?t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month.

? Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Gris 2014 ($17, sample, 13.2%): Needs more time in the bottle, but when this Oregon white is ready in a couple of months, it should be classic, elegant Oregon pinot gris — fresh tropical fruit, rich mouth feel, and long finish.

?Dauvergne-Ranvier C tes du Rh ne Vin Gourmand 2012 ($15, purchased, 13.5%): Uninspired white French blend that was overpriced and lacking in anything to make it interesting. A hint of viognier (peach?) and not much else. We do this kind of wine much better in Texas.

? Weingut Schnaitmann Lemberger 2012 ($15, sample, 13%): Unfortunately for those of us who like lemberger, a red grape that’s hard to find, this isn’t the answer. There’s lots of red fruit, but this German wine is disjointed and needs something more than just the fruit.

? Rudi Wiest Dry Pinot Blanc 2012 ($12, sample, 12%): This German white was delightful, with candied lime fruit, fizzy acidity, and just a touch sweet. It was everything I hope it would be; the catch being that availability is limited.

Wine of the week: J Winery Pinot Gris 2013

J Winery Pinot Gris 2013The Wine Curmudgeon has almost run out of nice things to say about the J Winery pinot gris. You can look here. Or here. Or even here. But given that the 2013 vintage may be J’s best yet ($15, sample, 13.8%), I’ll try to find a couple more:

? Round, soft white fruit — peach, perhaps — but not flabby or overdone so that the fruit is the only thing you taste.

? Fresh and crisp without any bitterness in the back, something else that is not common in this style of wine.

? Honest winemaking, in which the goal was to make a quality wine and not to hit a price point or please a focus group. Those are things that also happen too often with this style of wine.

This California white wine is highly recommended, as always, whether to finish out the summer on the porch or with grilled chicken or even fried catfish.

Father’s Day wine 2014

Father's Day wine 2014
You don’t have to buy Dad another tie. Wouldn’t he prefer wine?

Tired of ties? Worn out from from all those cheesy department store Father’s Day TV commercials? That’s what wine is for — to make Father’s Day 2014 more fun for everyone involved. Keep the blog’s wine gift-giving guidelines in mind throughout the process: “Don’t buy someone wine that you think they should like; buy them what they will like.”

Some wine to consider for Father’s Day 2014:

? Juv y Camps Brut Nature Gran Reserva 2008 ($14, purchased, 12%): Delicious and surprisingly sophisticated cava — sparkling wine from Spain — with all sorts of things going on, including honey in the back, some citrus in the front, and even a little minerality. Toast Dad with this one, and impress everyone.

? Ch teau du Donjon Minervois Ros 2013 ($10, purchased, 12.5%): Look for sour cherry fruit and some minerality, though a bit thin in the middle. This is not so much a problem with the wine but with the quality of $10 rose, because the wine is quite tasty.

? Robert Oatley Wild Oats Shiraz 2011 ($15, sample, 13.5%): Lots of spice to go with the fruity Australian style (berries?). This is a wine that shiraz lovers will enjoy, as well as those of us who don’t like the style. A fine value, and highly recommended.

? Solena Pinot Gris 2012 ($17, sample, 13.5%) Top-notch Oregon pinot gris (apples, crispy, refreshing) that shows what the state can do with this grape. A bit pricey, but a fine gift for dads who like this kind of wine.

More about Father ?s Day wine:
? Father’s Day wine 2013
? Father’s Day wine 2012
? Expensive wine 51: Stags’ Leap Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2010
? Wine of the week: Errazuriz Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Reserva 2010

Wine of the week: Acrobat Pinot Gris 2012

Wine of the week: Acrobat Pinot Gris 2012The Wine Curmudgeon has told this story before, but it’s worth repeating because it proves that all of us are guilty of judging a wine before we taste it.

Several years ago, I dismissed the Acrobat when I tasted it at home, mostly because it didn’t taste like I thought it should. By God, I knew pinot gris, and this wasn’t it. A couple of months later, I tasted the wine blind during a wine competition judging, and gave it a gold medal. The difference, of course, was blind tasting.

The current vintage of the Acrobat ($12, purchased, 12.5%) isn’t quite as wonderful as that wine, but it will do. It’s another fine effort from King Estate, a top-notch Oregon winery, to make affordable pinot gris that doesn’t taste like pinot grigo, something that not many wineries do. The fruit in the 2012 isn’t as bright as in previous vintages; more of a subdued lime, and it doesn’t zing quite as much as the gold medal winner did. But it’s still crisp and fresh and a solid effort that offers value.

Serve this chilled, and especially with seafood, something like spaghetti and clam sauce, or any kind of chicken braised in white wine with garlic and onions. And don’t forget to reserve judgement until you taste it.

Wine of the week: King Estate Pinot Gris 2012

KEPG12_OLOrdinarily, the King Estate would not be a wine of the week, even though it’s one of my favorite wines. But we do not live in ordinary times.

The pinot gris ($12, purchased, 13%), with a suggested retail price of $17, is too expensive for a wine of the week. But it has been for sale around the country for as much one-third less, including Dallas. For a wine of this quality, charging just $12 is giving it away — not much more than the retailer’s cost. That’s the same price as King’s Acrobat, which is supposed to be the company’s less expensive, entry level pinot gris.

So why not take advantage of the price war to write about a wine that is a value at $17?

This is classic Oregon pinot gris — a little rich, clean and crisp, refreshing as can be, and with green apple and a bit of tropical fruit. This is the kind of wine that has helped Oregon make its own way in the pinot grigio/pinot gris debate, offering wine drinkers a more interesting alternative to the oceans of very ordinary pinot grigio most of us buy.

The wine has never disappointed me, and I’ve actually missed getting samples, which stopped a couple of years ago — something I can’t say about some of the samples I get. This is a holiday wine to stock up on, whether for Thanksgiving, for keeping around the house for company, or saving for yourself. Highly recommended.