If I say Pinot Grigio, what is the first thing that comes into your mind about this wine? I recently had a friend tell me they liked Pinot Gris, not Pinot Grigio (the wine itself), and I quite literally started thinking to myself about the power of a name. 

Pinot Grigio or Gris? What do you call it? Is it the same? Does it feel the same to you? 

Is there a difference between Pinot Gris and Grigio? There isn’t a difference, one is French and one is the Italian language. I predict however that the labelling Pinot Gris will start to be used a lot more than we have seen in the recent past. 

Whatever you are currently calling it, it is a white grape varietal. We all know it as the mass-produced easy drinking book club wine. A wine produced in bulk largely from Italy. This is why we most often see the name “Pinot Grigio” on the shelves. Pinot Grigio is grown all over Italy, but also in many other countries. Firstly, France, its “birthplace” where it is known as a noble grape. Australia, Germany and the United States grow it (almost) equally. However, Italy reigns as the largest Pinot Grigio grower in the world, most known for its large amount of bulk wines for export. The varietal came to Italy in the 1800s and is one of the most produced and exported varietals. 

Pinot Grigio’s tasting notes are often peachy, full of lemon zest, sometimes cantaloupe melon, and sometimes holding a high minerality relating to sandstones or gravel. The colour can range from pale yellow to gold, to a pale copper colour depending on the winemaking styles used and the region it is produced in. It is most often found as a fresh young wine; simple, easy drinking, and fresh. From this description alone I can see why the export market was calling for it!

In Italy Pinot Grigio is produced all throughout the country. Trentino Alto Adige and Friuli are maybe the most talked about for their Pinot Grigio. While they differ largely in terroir and winemaking styles they still tend to be light, fun, easy-drinking wines.

I’ve mentioned winemaking styles a couple of times because I feel that wine-making styles play a powerful and large role in what you might find in your bottle of Pinot Grigio. From my winemaking experience, maturation (or extended maturation), whole-cluster fermentation, and/or cold soaking can play a large role in the complexity, colour, mouth feel, and overall deliciousness of this type of white wine. 

Pinot Grigio as a grape is thin-skinned, grey/purple in colour, and grows in small tight clusters. Immediate pressing leads to the light white wine we all know, while a completely different result can be obtained from maturating the grapes to extract colour and tannin from the skins. You can also leave the grapes to ferment on the skins for the entire extent of fermentation or partially to create different styles. Even extended maturation for months post-fermentation is utilized by some. It is a very cool grape to work with. I’ve enjoyed experimenting with skin contact time to extract the colour from the skins and gain complexity in the mouth. 

Whether you are often a Pinot Grigio drinker or turn your nose up at the idea of it, I have a feeling Pinot Grigio is coming back with a vengeance. Being driven into the mass production market for the last 25 years, it has had its name and creativity stripped from it but I believe it is making a comeback. We are seeing more and more with the labelling of Pinot Gris, especially those of the new world. Maybe this name will elevate the overly used Pinot Grigio, trick its tasters into tasting and make them fall in love with their creativity. I think having two known names might be the key player making Pinot Grigio cool again, but this time it is Pinot Gris.

Having fewer “Gris” from France exported, there is now the opportunity to use the French name to inspire a wave of new consumers that don’t quite know if there is a difference between Gris and Grigio. Or maybe simply seeing something with a different name is enough for most of us. Taking back the name Pinot Gris, and using some creative wine-making styles might just be enough for a comeback of Pinot Grigio.