Wine: Imported pinot grigios affordable, popular(1)
Wine professionals apparently don't spend much time lavishing praise upon pinot grigios, but Americans like it just fine, thank you.
Wine snobs often describe pinot grigio as boring or uninteresting. (Pinot grigio is the Italian spelling; it's pinot gris in English.) Aficionados of pinot grigios point to pretty wines that make for versatile pairings with fish, chicken or pasta. Of course, pinot grigio is an attractive aperitif.
Americans often vote with their pocketbooks, and in recent years, pinot grigio is among the most imported white wines into this country.
My wine-tasting panel compared five Italian pinot grigios costing between $10 and $15, and we found some values even wine snobs would like. The results follow.
2008 Cesari Duetorri Delle Venezie Pinot Grigio IGT, $12.99.
We detected scents of apricots, orange peel, honeydew melon, kumquat and basil. This pretty wine was off-dry (slightly sweeter than the others), with a crisp and juicy feel in the mouth. Elegantly subtle, this wine tied for first in our blind tasting and won the top spot by having the lower price.
2007 Lagaria Delle Venezie Pinot Grigio IGT, $14.99.
The nose included lemon oil, oranges, pineapples, melon, baby aspirin and flint and other minerals. The palate had a nice minerality with strong citrus flavors that showed a nice zesty feeling. This juicy wine tied for first place.
2007 Cantarutti Fruili Grave Pinot Grigio, $14.99.
The bouquet included suggestions of orange juice concentrate, fruit nectar, lemon oil, herbs and almonds. The palate was rounder than the others, more oily and creamier. It was sharp on the end. The Cantarutti had less acid content than the competing wines, contributing to its creamy but not crisp taste.
2007 Terri Domini "The Paradise" Veneto Pinot Grigio, $11.99.
We smelled pineapples, along with yeasty, doughy notes and almonds. On the palate, we found flavors of oil, lemon grass and dried fruit. Some of my panelists thought this wine tasted more like a white Burgundy.
2008 Santi Delle Venezie Pinot Grigio, $13.99.
The nose showed scents of citrus, kiwi and white peaches, along with grass and wet stone like a sauvignon blanc. The palate was tart and lean (easy on the fruit), with a pleasant chalky texture. We thought this pinot grigio closely resembled the attributes of a sauvignon blanc.
