Oh dear, poor winemaking must have wrecked many early romances. The charming Italian restaurant with the many empties of the Chianti flasks ‘the fiasco’ packaged in straw-wicker dangling from the ceiling set the scene.
All was going well until the bottle of cheap Italian Pinot Grigio was poured – then the mood soured. Nothing wrong with grapes from the lovely vineyards of northern Italy, it was just the sloppy work in the local Coop, full of bacterial and fungal problems, that turned bunches of grapes, not into vin ordinaire but something far worse.
We all drank on through gritted teeth, tried to be charming and resolved to never buy Pinot Grigio (Pinot Gris) again. I recall the Chard Farm Pinot Gris (New Zealand) perhaps the 2003, as a breathtaking revelation. So the Australasian mood changed and now Pinot Gris has become rather popular. This example was purchased in bulk from a noted Eden Valley maker. They sell it for above $25 a bottle – same wine.
