Image: Miss604.com.
Pinot grigio is the hottest white grape around, and has been for a few years. In just about every restaurant wine program I’ve managed in the last half decade, if there was pinot grigio on the list, it would outsell everything else. Sometimes, it even accounted for more sales than all other whites combined. Sommeliers are constantly complaining (to each other) that they can’t get their customers to drink anything else.
What makes pinot grigio so popular? Well, it’s easy to pronounce, for one. It’s not chardonnay, which is fashionable to dislike these days. It’s relatively inexpensive, occupying that coveted real estate in the top quarter of the wine list. But really what makes it so appealing is that it’s crisp, fresh, unoaked, infinitely food-friendly (I can’t think of anything that would cause a train wreck in your mouth), and not too strong. It has a sort of non-intimidating personality, avoiding extremes of any kind, playing well within the comfort zone of most drinkers. It’s safe.
So if you’re stuck in a pinot grigio rut, then I understand. But that means you’ll probably also like:
- Grüner Veltliner
- Albariño
- Vermentino
- Moschophilero
Grüner Veltliner, or “groovy” as it’s known to its friends, is Austria’s most important grape of any colour, accounting for 1/3 of the country’s vineyards. It also grows in nearby places like Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, and as far away as Ontario, California and Australia. Some believe that it’s New Zealand’s next big grape after sauvignon. In any case, it’s hot. It ranges in style from light lean crisp and citrusy (like pinot grigio), to quite rich and powerful, with striking minerality (like pinot gris). Its signature scent is white pepper, along with an appealing turnip-parsnip-lentil-like flavor. And lost of fruit. It’s mostly bone dry and unoaked, and is brilliant with everything from ceviche to mild Thai green curry.
Albariño is another one of the sommelier’s darling grapes. It grows mainly in the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula in the Spanish region of Galicia (DO Rias Baixas) and the Portuguese region of Vinho Verde, though California and Australia have some too (and probably many other places). I find that it’s often like a cross between riesling and viognier (like pinot grigio): the aromas are all fresh peaches and flowers like the latter, but on the palate it’s lean, crisp and mouth watering like the former. Almost always unoaked and best young and fruity, albariño is another go-to grape when a whole bunch of different dishes hit the table at once and you need multi-purpose refreshment.
Vermentino is at home (like me) on the Italian Riviera, the beautiful island of Sardinia where it has its very own DOCG appellation, and on the French Riviera, where it goes under the alias of rolle. It has the useful attribute of retaining mouth-jolting levels of acidity even under the warm Tuscan sun. As it often grows within site of the sea, vermentino has a pleasant saline-like quality, and an intriguing range of savory, Mediterranean herbal flavors (what the French call garrigue and the Italians macchia. Whatever your language preference, vermentino speaks the language of love at first sip.
Moschophilero (don’t freak out; that’s moss-co-FEE-leh-row) is Greece’s tongue-twisting answer to pinot grigio. It grows exclusively in the Peloponnese on the high (650m) plateau of Mantinia, surrounded by even higher mountains. Despite the average person’s mental postcard image of Greece, with bright sun, whitewashed house, blue domes and deep azure sea (that’s Santorini), it’s actually quite cold in Mantinia. It snows regularly and grapes struggle to ripen. Moschophilero is rarely above 12% alcohol, and usually closer to 11%. It looks like pinot grigio on the vine in that when ripe, it has pink skins, and can be made into a vin gris or lightly copper-tinged wine like the ramato style of pinot grigio in Friuli. It delivers a fine range of delicate floral and citrus/stone fruit aromas, is rarely oaked, enlivens the palate with every sip, and is relatively inexpensive, all like pinot grigio.
I hope that helps you bounce the needle out of the groove.
_____
John Szabo is a master sommelier and wine writer for Toronto Standard. Follow his tweets here: @johnszabo.
More recommendations by John Szabo at www.johnswines.com
For more, follow us on Twitter @TorontoStandard and subscribe to our newsletter.
