BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Wine Pinot Grigios

I like Pinot Grigio, but they are all different. Some are heavier on the palate with a stronger aftertaste than others. Any ideas for a light feeling Pinot, fruity, with a clean finish that is very reasonably priced? I am talking from $9-$12? I usually buy Italian wines but I am willing to try others if they are good.

Thanks!

Pinot Grigio is an old grape variety known by different names* and can be made in completely different styles.

The PG that became popular came from Italy (grigio is the Italian world for grey) and were made in a light fruity style without much flavour and inoffensive.

Others making the wines in the same style from that grape new tend to use the P Grigio name to indicate the style.

Perhaps if you said which state or city you are in people in the area could suggest wines that are available there...

*In France the grape is usually called Pinot Gris (gris = grey) and the wines tend to have much more emphatic flavours. New Zealand is making some very impressive P Gris)

P Gris/Grigio is a mutation of (black) Pinot Noir and it gets it name from the colour of the grape skins which can vary from a metallic steel colour through pale pink to quite dark pink.

Same grape is Grauer (=grey) Burgunder in Germany and used to be known as Tokay in Alsace.

I like the lighter wines but not too dry, and for whites I prefer Pinot Grigio over Chardonnay. I like Chianti too, but I stay away from the reds as much as possible because they really flush my face.

I am in southern New England in the U.S. and the climate here is not condusive to very many wineries.

I think Barefoot is a pretty available, popular, and inexpensive pinot grigio. I had a bottle in my fridge, and my mother was visiting. I offered her wine, and when I said I had Barefoot, she about jumped for joy--turns out it's her favorite.

Thanks, Stacy.

I usually only buy Italian wines but I will keep this California wine in mind. It certainly is very cheap, much less than the $10-15 I usually spend for a bottle of Pinot Grigio. The reviews are not fantastic, though. Some people like it, but most reviews are middle of the road or not great. Price does not necessarily dictate taste, but I can't find an overwhelming audience for this wine. Comments include no depth of flavor and more like juice than wine. Because of the price I may just try it anyway, and if I don't care for it I can always cook with it.

Thanks again!

Don't blame you! Funny thing is that a couple years ago, my son's babysitter also worked at a nursing home as the dining room hostess, and she told me that Barefoot pinot grigio was THE most popular wine there. And it was a very expensive nursing home where all the rich old people in that area lived! But know that as we get older, our taste buds aren't so good anymore, so don't take what they like as a really strong recommendation!!

I buy it occasionally. It doesn't have a lot of flavor, so sometimes I'm buying it after drinking a lot of reds with strong flavors. It's not very sweet, though, so I wouldn't call it juice. It's just kind of "eh." It's quite good, though, in a white sauce with some lemon, like chicken piccata, or in an alfredo sauce because it doesn't have strong flavors of its own.