Pinot Gris (or Grigio) is the variety to come from almost total obscurity 40 years ago to now the fourth most widely planted white variety in Australia. It has actually been here for much longer. Arriving in 1832 as Pineau Gris from the Côte-d'Or by the father of Australian viticulture, James Busby. Pioneered both in the vineyard and winery in the early 80’s at T’Gallant, it has been on the rise ever since.
Sometimes copping some flak along the way because of vines that were over-cropped and picked too early hence making wines that were hard, acidic and flavourless. The other issue at the time for new Aussie winemakers adopting the variety was that it was hard to explain the differing styles to wary consumers, whilst at the same time trying to master an understanding themselves.
Fast forward to 2020. Much work has been done to better understand the variety and the styles produced from it. As an industry we now agree on sensory attributes that constitute Gris and Grigio styles. Gris wines have a higher viscosity, oiliness, hotness and sweetness. They also exhibit leesy/solids/yeasty characters, spice, higher fruit intensity, deeper colour and some bitterness. Grigio-like characters are higher acidity, fresh citrus, tropical fruit, estery notes and pear. Gris is at the ‘luscious’ end and Grigio is at the ‘crisp’ end of the Pinot G spectrum. Most Australian Pinot G wines produced are somewhere in the middle and rarely at the extreme of either end of the stylistic range ie. they have some degree of both crisp and luscious attributes.
As winemakers, we can manipulate finished alcohol by picking earlier or later. We can ferment on skins or off skins, with varying levels of solids to affect mouthfeel, colour and flavour. Ferments can be stopped early to retain residual sugar for balance. And we can utilize natural or selected yeasts to form varying levels of ‘oiliness’ and different fruit characteristics and intensities. So, now we can confidently drive the style along the spectrum towards the ‘crisp’ Grigio direction or the ‘luscious’ Gris alternative.
My personal preference is to make a Gris style because of its’ textural richness and complexity; ability to take barrel fermentation well; and structure a palate with both sweetness and phenolic bitterness. The 2019 Bunnamagoo Pinot Gris sources fruit from Mudgee. It shows pear and quince fruit offset with textural warmth from barrel fermentation with gentle acidity and chew from the fine phenolic line. It is my best result using the variety since my first foray in 2004. The vintage conditions had much to do with that. The fruit was perfect.
2020 was a struggle. Heatwaves and drought were by now par for the course for grape growers. However, fires over summer and the pall of smoke that followed made the challenge insurmountable. We decided to source wine from out of the area to maintain the product along similar lines. The aromas and flavours of golden delicious apple and poached pear flow gently along an off dry palate with subtle spiced oak infusion. It happily satisfies and encourages us to keep the faith for our own fruit again in 2021.
So I hope that you have a better understanding of Pinot G styles and what drives them. As a consumer, you should be able to discover the style of wine in the bottle with the spectrum in mind, rather than trying to draw a conclusion from the choice of name on the bottle. Hopefully the name on the label becomes a lot less relevant and you don’t have to toss a coin to decide – Gris or Grigio??
