Celebrating BC’s most planted White Grape
On May 17, we celebrate BC’s number 1 white wine. It’s our most commonly planted white variety and has the third highest acreage overall, at more than 1300 acres. It’s in the top 4 plantings for most regions across the province, performing best in a cooler climate.
You may know it by two different names but it’s the same either way. In case you haven’t guessed it (or read the title) - it’s Pinot Gris!
This grape is, as the name suggests, a mutation of Pinot Noir that gives it bluish-grey skins and is used to create mostly light, approachable white wines in the dry to off-dry range. It matures relatively early which suits our shorter, northerly growing season. Rarely offensive, and intended for early consumption, Pinot Gris in BC is usually the answer when warmer weather begs the question. It may be popular, but in the wine trade I’d be surprised if it were anyone’s favourite - Pinot Gris has zero rizz. In many cases it can be accused of being boring, but there are always exceptions.
Pinot Gris is typically produced in one of two distinct styles. The first is a lighter, fruity but drier expression with higher acidity famously associated with northeastern Italy, and often domestic producers emulating this style will label it under its Italian name - Pinot Grigio. Just those two words alone and you know exactly what I’m talking about. Simple stainless steel fermentation means the ripeness of fruit takes the stage, and this style can offer great value both at home and abroad.
Not too far away on the same continent, we find the French region of Alsace (also this grape’s place of origin) which gives us Pinot Gris of another persuasion. In their warm, dry autumns, grapes can fully ripen on the vine and develop stronger, more robust flavours. Slightly longer skin contact and barrel fermentation or short-term aging on lees provide more layers of complexity, resulting in fuller, rounder wines with less acidity, and spicy notes. Off-dry styles are more common here.
Credit: Wines of British Columbia
The Pinot Gris produced in BC is getting better and better, and is more often dry but leaning towards the fleshier style. Producers are experimenting with different methods and focusing on single vineyards, while contending with diverse soil types and ranges of annual heat energy, among other variables. Consumers are reluctant to pay over $30 per bottle for whites so to keep wines both interesting and accessible, some BC wineries have been using concrete vessels for fermentation and aging on lees. This allows a soft and creamy texture to develop while retaining ripe fruit character without notes of spice, vanilla, or butterscotch from expensive oak.
There is not an abundance of unique character with Pinot Gris but common aromas and flavours are citrus, pear, mirabelle plum, melon, and honey. Its thicker skins often impart a waxy or musty aroma to the wine, as well as a faint hue of umber which distinguishes itself from other common whites. In addition to single-varietal wines this grape is also used in many white blends, a category in which BC excels. The Pinot Gris in this case plays a supporting role, providing good neutral body to let other more aromatic grapes like Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Viognier, or Muscat lend the highlights.
For Pinot Gris Day I’ll be featuring a few hand-selected 100% Pinot Gris to showcase the diversity of BC producers, who provided the wines for this article.
Blue Grouse 2022 Pinot Gris
From 34-year old vines in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. 40% of the wine was fermented and aged 7 months in French oak barrels, the remaining 60% in concrete - their first vintage implementing concrete vessels. This is BC Pinot Gris to a ‘T.’ The appearance is a typical pale yellow with bronze tint. Impressions on the nose are cream, nut butter, poached pears and tart green plum. The palate is fairly soft and round, with medium acidity, chewy texture, and a satisfyingly crisp and slightly chalky finish. A light and balanced island pearl.
Clos du Soleil Winemaker’s Series 2022 Pinot Gris
Hand picked grapes from the organic Whispered Secret vineyard in Keremeos. This is on the south side of the Similkameen, a cooler site getting less heat and direct sun. After whole cluster pressing, the juice was fermented in a combination of steel and French oak, and rested on lees for 3 months. The colour shows pale yellow-green with copper reflections. On the nose there are quiet aromas of green pear and apple set on a stony platter. The acidity is screaming high and refreshing, and the fruit (pear, lemon, apple) is subtle. Crushed rock on the long finish is the signature for this producer and region. Simple but elegant.
Bench 1775 2022 Pinot Gris
It seems this winery has a house style: Ripe, tropical fruit character. Their Sauvignon Blanc I tasted last month was the same. Grapes for this wine come from their estate (12%) and Okanagan Falls (88%) vineyards, harvested and fermented separately. The estate lot was cold soaked prior to pressing, adding a little extra weight to the blend. This Pinot Gris is unlike most, with mega tropical fruit on the nose like melon and papaya as well as yellow apple. Visually on point with a pale yellow colour and peachy hue, the palate is soft and juicy with high acidity, and fruit-forward while still dry. No signs of oak or concrete use here. Bright and inviting, this wine is proof that the descriptor of ‘fruit cocktail’ is not always derogatory. Great value for an easy summer sipper.
Gray Monk 2023 Pinot Gris - New release!
The original Pinot Gris maker in BC, going back to 1976. Their name, translated from German (Grauer Mönch) is a medieval moniker for the variety. Hand picked from estate and contracted grower vineyards, with 12 hours (!) skin contact, cool fermented and aged in stainless steel. This wine has the greatest degree of blush, flirting with rosé territory. Friar tuck, this is good! An impactful, confident presentation of juicy melon, pear, honeysuckle and spice. There is a wonderful roundness lifted by moderate acidity and trellised with yellow plum, sweet grapefruit and homemade applesauce. Delightfully verging on off-dry. You can’t get more Pinot Gris essence into a glass. Another excellent value, sure to convert any Pinot Gris cynic.
Phantom Creek 2020 Pinot Gris
The consulting winemaker behind this is none other than Alsace legend Olivier Humbrecht. A single vineyard expression from an organically grown, elevated Peachland site on Pincushion Mountain. Harvested late October for maximum ripeness and fermented with indigenous yeasts. The wine is then aged 18 months in Austrian oak casks. Bougie! You’d might as well take off your socks before tasting because they’re just going to get knocked off anyway. The colour is pale gold with the faintest bronze. The complexity on the nose is astounding - green apple, crisp pear, Melba toast, citrus pith, wet rock, and dill pickle popcorn. The palate is pleasantly soft and mellow yet the acidity lingers, clawing at your cheeks. Great for special occasions and to impress your company. You’ve never had a Pinot Gris like this, cause no one makes them like this.
Because of its fairly neutral and approachable nature, Pinot Gris is very food-friendly and pairs easily with a wide variety of noshings. It would be obtuse to provide a thorough list of recommendations, but if you follow the fundamentals you can’t go wrong. Lighter bodied wines with lighter foods, and lower alcohol (and therefore slightly more sweetness) can handle spiciness better. For a sublime refreshing treat on a hot day, mix an unoaked BC Pinot Gris half and half with plain sparkling water in a tall tumbler and enjoy your weinschorle my cultured friend!
The numbers don’t lie - Pinot Gris is immensely popular the world over. Because of its consistency, it’s a safe choice if you don’t want to be surprised. The wines are all the same language, just with different dialects. Italians have their Pinot Grigio, Alsatians quaff their Pinot Gris, and heaven knows I can’t resist a soft, dry German Grauburgunder. As long as we keep getting high quality Pinot Gris like those featured here, we can expect it to be a top performer in BC for the foreseeable future.
This blog post was written by our contributor: Matt Tinney.