Hey everybody welcome back to the latest installment in my series about the best
white wines for beginners! This week we're looking at a very famous
white wine, Pinot Grigio and I know you think you know everything you need to
know about Pinot Grigio, but trust me there's more. Stick around and I'll show
you... and if you hang to the end of the video, I may even just play you a song
that I wrote about Pinot Grigio... yep!
When I'm in the wine store I see more people buy Italian Pinot Grigio than any
other type of wine. This is to go to for so many people, because it's affordable,
its approachable, it's easy to drink and it pairs well with food, but what many of
you don't know is that Pinot Grigio isn't originally from Italy. If you've
been watching my series, you'll probably know what I'm about to say, so say it
with me: it's from France! in France it's known as Pinot Gris, and it's been
growing in Burgundy for almost a thousand years. In fact it's a mutation
of the Pinot Noir grape, so Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris. The French call it Gris,
which means "grey," because this mutation has a lighter colored skin: it's not
dark red, it's not light white, somewhere in between, so they call it grey.
In Italian they call it Grigio and in German they call it Grau.
After centuries of growing Pinot Gris, in places like France, Switzerland and Germany,
winemakers slowly began to realize that the cooler northern parts of Italy were
really well-suited to growing this grape. This is where Pinot Gris' alter-ego,
Pinot Grigio is made. This is the one that we know and drink the most.
On the whole Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are known for being crisp, fruity, and food
friendly, but there are some differences between the Italian style and the French style.
Now Italian Pinot Grigio is most often light, almost like water
sometimes really acidic and clean, almost spritzy,
with this distinct lemon and lime, and sometimes apple and pear flavor.
French Pinot Gris tends to be a little bit more full-bodied and rich than Italian Pinot Grigio,
it's fruity and floral but it also has this spicy ginger note to it
and sometimes a honey element as well. Some of the best examples can be found
in the Alsace region of France. Many other parts of the world are making
Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio now, too, but here's the one thing that you have to
take note of, look at what they say on the bottle, because they're trying to
tell you what's style they're making it in. If it says Pinot Gris, it's gonna be more
in the French style, more full-bodied and fragrant, and if it says Pinot Grigio on
the label, that means they're trying to make it in a more lean, crisp, and acidic
Italian style. As far as food pairing is concerned, the style of the wine really
sort of dictates the options: if you're looking at the more lean and crisp
Italian Pinot Grigio style of wine, then that
pairs really well with lighter fare, things like salads, shellfish, and fish -
if you're looking at the more full-bodied and heavy aromatic French style,
I'd say that goes better with cream based dishes: look at pasta Alfredo,
schnitzel, and even potatoes au gratin. As far as price is concerned, I don't
think I've ever seen a really expensive Pinot gris or Pinot grigio. The Italian
ones tend to hover around ten dollars a bottle, which is why I think so many
people buy them. North America, Australia, places like that, you'll see them more
around 15-ish and then the most expensive ones I think are the Pinot
Gris from Alsace, which are closer to $20 a bottle. Still, all in all, not too
bad, though. Alright so you've heard correctly, at the beginning of this video
I did promise you that I would sing you a song about Pinot Grigio, just to
reinforce the learning. I went to great lengths and wrote you a little ditty, it goes like this...
Pinot Grigio I think you should know, in France it's Pinot Gris.
Crisp and lemony, bold and gingery the styles are all tasty!
all right guys, thanks so much for hanging with me and learning a little bit about
Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio. If you haven't subscribed to my channel please
do so, and that way you'll get the full range of everything that I do, including
cocktails, spirits, and food pairings, as well. Take care of yourselves and don't
forget to take a little time out of everyday to indulge. Cheers!