New World: Pinot Gris
2017 Gold: 2 Silver: 3 Bronze: 3 Commended: 7
2016 Gold: 3 Silver: 0 Bronze: 4 Commended: 4
Stylistically, this variety is still rather all over the place. Go back 10 years, and the producers who were bothering to make it at all tended to look to Alsace for their inspiration. The rise of Pinot Grigio, however, seems to have had an impact, with the wines generally lighter, fresher and, yes, drier.
The result was tasters who quite liked what they saw, and could see a use for it, and who largely welcomed the lack of RS, but who were still some way short of falling head over heels in love. What, they seemed to be saying, is the point of this wine? Is it cheap? Expensive? By the glass? Food-matchable? Unhelpfully, the answer to all these questions was ‘yes’.
All that we can say, with some degree of certainty is that the Kiwis seem to be more interested in it than anyone else.
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘The best examples had minerality and good citrus and apple flavour, the worst examples were a bit too alcoholic. On the whole, some lovely, lively, fresh wines.’ James Hocking, The Vineyard Group
‘Not exciting, but a bit more going for them than styles from Italy.’ Carlos Ferreira, The Sign of the Don
‘There were a lot of drier, fresher, cleaner styles this year. I think that’s a good thing. People in the New World are really understanding how to get the most out of the grape. A pleasing flight and good value for money.’ Annette Scarfe MW, team leader
‘Very food-friendly wines – we list quite a few [at Hakkasan]. They are quite versatile and work really well with spicy food, savoury food, and with delicate dishes. Even if you get quite a complex dish it can work quite well… But the off-dry style is a little more difficult to take on; guests aren’t really looking for it.’ Olivier Gasselin, Hakkasan Group