This Isn't Your Grandmother's Pinot Grigio...

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Pinot Grigio has suffered what you might call an identity crisis over the past couple of decades. After bursting on the U.S. scene in the early 1980s (most notably the famed Santa Margherita label), it became the most well-known white Italian grape, provoking a flood of mediocre and downright bland versions. And while there are exceptional and stunning Pinot Grigios produced in the dramatic valleys in the foothills of the Italian Alps, namely in Friuli and Alto-Adige, the indifferent, basic, watery styles made on the valley floors have overshadowed the really good ones, tainting the grape’s overall reputation. To this day, lackluster versions of Pinot Grigio maintain their stronghold on chain restaurants’ by the glass wine lists and crowd the shelves of grocery and liquor stores across the nation, yet you seldom see any Pinot Grigio at a hip wine bar or high-end restaurant. Hence, when we tasted this ‘Cantina Valle Isarco Pinot Grigio’ from Alto Adige, we felt an obligation to introduce it to club members, not only because it is absurdly delicious, but also because we are confident that any Pinot Grigio skeptics out there will start to rethink this highly misunderstood Italian grape!