This month I have found three amazing Grigios’ – and they are all labelled Gris.
Around twenty years ago, I was on tour in the Adelaide Hills when a great friend opened a pair of wines for me to taste. Both were superb – one leaner and zestier and the other ripe, rich and lusty.
The first was not a Sauvignon Blanc, and the second was not a Chardonnay. They were both made from the same grape, a grape that has, apparently, 150 synonyms. The two most popular are Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio, and what I found confusing was my friend’s leaner and zestier wine was labelled Pinot Gris, while his richer, fuller-framed wine was labelled Pinot Grigio.
In the UK, we are used to Grigios being lean, spritzy, often simple wines and Gris, often from Alsace, being heady and upholstered. I suggested my pal should swap the nomenclature around so it made more sense. He refused because he first encountered this grape on his travels in the northeast of Italy.
These wines were made by some of the finest exponents on earth, and despite their depth and grandeur, they were all labelled Grigio! So be it.
In the UK, we rarely use the term Grigio – perhaps in our market, it suggests a cheaper style of wine, and we have none of those. But I still believe that while we have some delicious, lip-smacking, medium-weight examples of this grape in the UK, and the best have appeared on this page, the majority of our wines are Grigios labelled Gris. This is not an issue but an opportunity for explanation and education.
As my Australian friends made clear, Gris is not superior to Grigio and vice versa. This month I have found three amazing Grigios – and they are all labelled Gris. I expect a full postbag this month!
2023 London Cru, Pinot Gris
£22.00
www.londoncru.co.uk
London Cru’s first Pinot Gris is a beauty. It benefits from overnight skin contact, imparting the merest hints of exoticism without adding weight to the wine.
Here, ginger lily, white pepper, and jasmine float above the more traditional green apple and crisp pear tones, and these lip-smacking details bring beauty, class, and subtle balance to the whole.
Made from combining two parcels of fruit West Sussex fruit, it takes 60% from London Cru’s own Foxhole Vineyard and 40% from Locksash. Foxhole brings perfume and texture, while Locksash adds verve and cadence. I wonder which way this wine will turn in subsequent vintages.
It is clear the balance in 2023 favours a Grigio name change, but the merest tilt in shape and style will mean that the label need not be tinkered with. This 2023 is an apero, and starters, wine and age will not change this stance. Personally, I hope it stays the course because this is a terrific debut wine.
2023 Henners, Pinot Gris
£21.00
www.henners.com
£20.99
www.handpickedwinebox.com
While the technical sheet on the Cradle Valley wine mentioned oak, it is invisible, but there is a definite creaminess in this impressive Henners wine, and it is the three-word tasting note on Henners’ information that really catches my eye.
Fruity, peppery, creamy. Yes, yes and yes. I don’t need anything else to draw me in – these three words are magic enough.
This is a silky, unhurried wine, and while only 10% saw time in barriques, cunning lees contact is responsible for the body found here.
At 13.5% alcohol, this is around two percentage points higher than the other two wines, yet it is still not a Gris as I know it. This is a sexy Grigio with a flirtatious attitude, and it is already drinking beautifully.
What you see is what you get here, which is stunning grape-growing, carefully transferred to the bottle, and it is the essence of the variety, so I hope the phone rings off the hook at Henners this month!
2023 Cradle Valley, Pinot Gris
£15.00
www.rathfinnyestate.com
This Gris has started life as a Grigio, but I wonder if it might grow into its name given a year. But who in their right mind has this level of patience? Not me.
I have tasted a few Cradle Valley incarnations, and this wine consigns every previous experience to the annals of history. It is a triumphant wine with a very quiet label that belies the wonders within!
With 8% Chardonnay hidden in its folds, I adore the slipperiness here. The rest of the experience is bright, clean, energetic and, finally, effortlessly elegant with demure fruit notes and pretty florals.
I would not hold back if I were you. The price and the flavour are irresistible. Perhaps Mark and Sarah might tuck a few bottles away in their library, and we can find out if this wine will put on weight, gather gravitas in its dotage, and turn into a fully-fledged Gris before its time is up.
