This is a wine for the undecided .. will I open a Grigio or a Gris? Hence the front label is inscribed Pinot G although the back reads Pinot Grigio. This wine does have aspects of both styles but is closer to a Gris than a Grigio style.
Colour is rather like the skin of a ripe packham pear in the glass but lighter and clearer and with some deeper radiances, not even a hint of pink from skins.
Apricots glide strongly in the bouquet accompanied by green apples, nashi pears, mandarins and another fragrance similar to fennel.
A long palate with flavours encapsulated in a smooth and slightly creamy soft mouth coating massage. Apples, mainly green, nashi pears mingling with apricots and a hint of grapefruit, an excellent acidity motors through the mouthfeel in a slightly disguised way but becomes rather more emphatic late on the palate where it also unleashes some mineral flavours. The wine is dry and slightly sour but there is also a juxtaposed slipperiness which mainly unsuccessfully hints at a little sweetness that deceptive attempt is assiduously dealt with shortly after it appears by a crisp acidity. There is an elusive spice quality, it emerges late just as the fruit retreats somewhat and the acid becomes more noticeable – as you begin to notice a slight pucker there is a fading mandarin flavour followed by an almost imagined fennel, I suspect there was some wizardry involved in making this wine!
We had this wine with a Thai salad featuring duck in chilli sauce and the match was exquisite but the wine will accompany many foods that require some acidity, sourness and … Gris emboldened by some Grigio or the other way around depending on what your own palate discerns 😊.
Tasted: Saturday 15th October, 2022 without food and then with over several hours.
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $30
Suggested Drinking Window: 2022 – 2026
Winemaker: Peter McGlashan
Fruit Source: Mix of Estate and other local GI
Visit Website
