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Story by Lisa Anderson

Chardonnay may be the most popular white wine around, but lately it has been facing some serious competition. Gray Monk Estate Winery’s owner and president, George Heiss Sr., describes a new movement he calls the “ABC” trend — spelled out, that’s “anything but Chardonnay.” (See our article last month titled: "ABC." ed.)
Wine consumers tired of the classic white grape are looking for something else—a white wine with less oak, one that enhances food without overpowering it, and one that tastes like nothing else. That wine is Pinot gris.

Whether you’re looking for an alternative to Chardonnay, a delicious compliment to king salmon, or a wonderful sipping wine on a warm summer afternoon, you’ll find exactly what you want with a good Pinot gris from the Pacific Northwest. This pink-skinned grape is in the same family as Pinot blanc and Pinot noir, yet it has its own unique character — flavors and aromas sometimes too difficult to describe in any words other than distinctly Pinot gris.

Although vineyards of Pinot gris can be found all over the world, the grape is traditionally known for being grown in the Old World wine regions of Alsace, Italy and neighboring Germany. In the New World, winemakers have discovered the Pacific Northwest climate is perfect for the grape, known around the world variously as pinot grigio in Italy, Rulander or Grauburgunder (“gray from Burgundy”) in Germany, Szurkebarat in Hungary, Malvoisie in the Loire, Pinot Beurot in Burgundy, Fromente Au in Champagne, and Tokay d’Alsace in many other regions of France.

Why does the grape do so well in the Northwest in particular? It’s the cool climate, winemakers claim.

"We emulate the northern climate of Europe in many ways,” says the Okanagan’s Burrowing Owl Vineyards’ owner, Jim Wyse. “Perhaps our winters are colder, but our summers are hotter.” The grape needs colder temperatures to ripen fully and produce the distinct flavors associated with the varietal.”

While it’s crucial to grow the fruit at the right location (a cooler site), Columbia Winery’s winemaker David Lake says Pinot gris is “relatively easy to grow.” The grape is harvested comparatively early in the viticultural scheme of things, says Lake. “Normally, Pinot gris will come in one week to 10 days ahead of Chardonnay,” he says.

While Pinot gris has made a home for itself here in the Pacific Northwest, there is no single “Northwest style” of the wine. Not only is Pinot gris known by an assortment of names, it is also produced in a variety of styles. Some winemakers employ varying amounts of oak to impart desired flavors in their wines, while others see oak as a hindrance to the natural varietal character of Pinot gris wine, opting for the use of stainless steel tanks only. And while most winemakers produce a completely dry Pinot gris, others leave a small amount of residual sugar to compliment fruit flavors. Most Pinot gris wines, however, are not oaked and are completely dry.

Pinot Gris Comes to North America: The Oregon Introduction

Oregon’s David Lett, owner of The Eyrie Vineyards, introduced Pinot gris to North America in 1966 when he acquired cuttings from an experimental vineyard at the University of California at Davis and planted them to his own vineyard in the North Willamette Valley. Lett released his first vintage of Pinot gris wine in 1970. For several years, he produced only small amounts. But when Eyrie’s Pinot noir began attracting serious attention, interest in the winery’s Pinot gris also increased and the grape caught on like wildfire.

Today, Oregon is the Pacific Northwest’s leading producer of Pinot gris. The varietal is now the state’s premier white grape, surpassing even Chardonnay in annual sales. One of the most prominent producers in the state is King Estate Winery in the Willamette Valley.

King Estate first released a Pinot gris in 1992. The following year, New Zealand winemaker Ray Walsh joined the King Estate winemaking team. Walsh says his attraction to Pinot gris is a natural one. “It’s a food wine,” he says, and describes it as offering “fruit-forward crisp acidity.” Since his arrival at King Estate, Walsh says he has been working to perfect the winery’s Pinot gris style. “I want consistency,” he explains.

During his first six years with King Estate, Walsh had the opportunity to monitor the quality of numerous Pinot gris vineyards with which the winery contracted. “We tailored our program after those six years (of monitoring),” he says, “renewing contracts with a smaller vineyard base.” As a result, he feels King Estate ended up with some of the best grapes in the state. More than half of the winery’s Pinot gris grapes now come from its own estate vineyards.

King Estate is now one of Oregon’s largest wine producers, releasing between 30,000 and 40,000 cases of Pinot gris alone every year. Because of its size and its marketing power, King Estate has helped spread the positive reputation of Oregon Pinot gris, thus helping other wineries in the state gain international recognition for this varietal as well.

The King Estate Styles

Relying on carefully chosen winemaking procedures, Walsh ensures the style he wants for two distinct Pinot gris wines produced at the winery. The “King Estate Pinot Gris” is fermented in stainless steel tanks, with just a small percent undergoing malolactic fermentation to give it a rich, buttery texture. Most of this wine is aged for six months “sur lie,” on the lees of the yeast, which is minimally active at this point.

"The lees are stirred every week to add complexity to the varietal,” Walsh says.

A very small amount of the juice is aged in neutral oak barrels for six months. Neutral barrels are those previously used for several years, adding little or no oak flavor. An even smaller amount of juice is aged in large oak ovals for three months. These ovals, unlike standard barrels, are just less than eight feet tall, have thicker staves, and contain a much larger volume of juice. This design allows more oxygen to reach a greater surface of the wine, keeping the oak’s influence to a minimum. “They’re not getting much oak flavor,” Walsh explains.

The “King Estate Reserve Pinot Gris” also ferments in stainless steel but does not undergo malolactic fermentation. Walsh and his staff taste every barrel on a weekly basis, choosing the best fruit to blend into the Reserve wine. All of the juice is aged for 10 months sur lie, and more than half is aged in ovals for six months.

The end result is two very different styles of Pinot gris, both of which have garnered numerous awards. Walsh describes the King Estate Pinot Gris as “citrus-style” with a “clean, fresh flavor.” The Reserve is more tropical in nature. “It has a creamy texture and displays a good intensity of fruit.” Despite their differences, claims Walsh, both wines “impart a full mouthfeel,” and benefit from “long fermentation that locks in the fruit.” When asked how he entices a Chardonnay drinker to try Pinot gris as an alternative, Walsh doesn’t hesitate with his reply. “I put a glass in their hand. If you can get them to taste it, they’re simply amazed.”

The winery produces between 30,000 and 35,000 cases of its King Estate Pinot Gris each year, and only 5,000 cases of its Reserve. The 1999 King Estate Pinot Gris was just awarded a silver medal and the 1999 Reserve earned a bronze at the prestigious 2001 Indy International Wine Competition. According to Wine Press Northwest, this is the ninth medal so far for the 1999 vintage of Pinot gris wines from King Estate.

Countless other wineries in Oregon are now producing high quality Pinot gris. In the Willamette Valley alone, wineries like Elk Cove Vineyards, Erath Vineyards,Cooper Mountain Vineyards, Duck Pond Cellars, Rex Hill, WillaKenzie Estate, Firesteed Cellars, Tyee Wine Cellars, and Stangeland Vineyards have all earned top marks for their Pinot gris selections. In the Rogue Valley, award-winning Pinot gris is being made by Bridgeview Vineyards, Griffin Creek and Foris Vineyards, and in the Umpqua Valley, by Henry Estate. Several of these wineries were recently honored with medals at the 2001 Northwest Enological Society Judging, with Firesteed taking home the only Pinot gris gold medal for its 2000 vintage.

Pinot Gris Hits the Okanagan

While Pinot gris began flourishing in Oregon, winemakers in other Pacific Northwest wine regions started trying their hand at making the wine as well. In the northern Okanagan Valley of Canada’s British Columbia province, Gray Monk Estate Winery led the pack.

George Heiss, Sr. imported Pinot gris cuttings from Alsace in 1975, planted them to his family’s Gray Monk vineyards in the spring of 1976, and produced his first vintage in 1980. Heiss’s family-owned winery derives its name from the German translation of Pinot gris – “grauer monch,” or “gray monk.” When asked what drove his decision to produce Pinot gris, Heiss, a native of Vienna, says simply, “Coming from Europe, I liked the wine.” The winery currently produces 6,500 cases of Pinot gris annually, but has plans to increase production to 15,000 cases eventually. Nearly all of the grapes (95%) come from Gary Monk’s Estate Vineyards. Pinot gris is one of the winery’s top-selling wines, and far outsells their Chardonnay.

The Gray Monk Style

Heiss doesn’t believe in using any oak in Pinot gris. “Look at what’s happening to Chardonnay; they’re starting to kill its popularity with too much wood.”

Under the supervision of winemaker George Heiss Jr., Gray Monk’s Pinot gris is fermented in stainless steel tanks, and the juice emerges as a medium-bodied Alsatian style wine with no residual sugar. It pairs well with good seafood like Pacific Northwest salmon and shellfish.

"The grape has its own flavor,” says Heiss Sr., when asked to describe the wine. “You have citrus and grapefruit, yes, but there’s something underneath that is distinctly its own. I’ve tried to define it, but can’t quite do it. It’s unique.”

At Burrowing Owl Vineyards in the South Okanagan Valley, winemaker Bill Dyer also avoids using oak for his Pinot gris. “It’s basically the vineyard that makes the wine. We do very little to it except treat it gently.” The grape is one of only two white varietals produced by the winery – the other, not surprisingly, is Chardonnay. Burrowing Owl relies on fruit from its own estate vineyards, harvesting and retaining the first (and the best) quarter of the harvest each year for its own wines, and selling the balance to other wineries. On average, Burrowing Owl produces 3,500 cases of Pinot gris each year. The first planting of the varietal was in 1993, while the first release of the wine came in 1997.

Burrowing Owl calls itself a “small, very fussy winery.” The winery aims, Wyse says, “to preserve and enhance the delicate fruit flavors and smells of the Pinot gris.” During harvest, Dyer uses the less-than conventional technique of crushing whole grape clusters with very low pressure, to guard against any harsh flavors being extracted. The juice then flows by gravity into stainless steel tanks where it is allowed to ferment slowly.

"Our yields are very low, using this method… but the quality is high,” Wyse explains.

This creative hands-off approach pays off for Burrowing Owl. Their Pinot gris wines have been highly rated all over Canada, and was recently praised by celebrated chef Emeril Lagasse, who called it his favorite Canadian wine. Although the wine is currently sold only in Canada, Wyse hopes the wine will soon be available in the United States.

While Wyse doesn’t think worldwide popularity of Pinot gris will ever overtake that of Chardonnay, he points out “it certainly is popular in our region, probably because it is a great sipping wine, and also goes so well with our local seafood.”

In addition to Gray Monk and Burrowing Owl, other producers in the Okanagan gaining recognition for Pinot gris are Hawthorne Vineyards and Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, both of which have won awards for their Pinot gris wines in the past year.

A Few Washington State Wineries Try Pinot Gris

In Washington State, Pinot gris vines were first planted in Prosser in 1980. Yakima River Winery’s John Rauner used these grapes to produce the state’s first Pinot gris in 1983, but the winery, focusing primarily on red wines, stopped making the varietal in 1999.

Only a few Washington wineries followed Yakima River Winery’s lead to produce Pinot gris; most continue to focus heavily on Chardonnay, a consistent award-winner for Washington wineries.

At Columbia Winery, David Lake (the first U.S. winemaker with a Master of Wine title) is traditionally known for his role as the “father of Syrah,” having introduced that red varietal to Pacific Northwest states. But Lake’s experimental leanings led to ventures with other grapes as well, including Pinot gris.

Hearing about the success of the Pinot gris grape in Oregon, Lake wanted to try it for himself. Otis Vineyard was the source of Lake’s first Pinot gris release in 1994. Otis Vineyard, best known as the state’s oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard, has grown Pinot gris grapes longer than any other vineyard in Washington. While Columbia Winery continues to produce Pinot gris wine from Otis Vineyard, Lake now sources grapes from a few additional vineyards in the Prosser area.

The Columbia Winery Style

While Columbia Winery tried using oak in its Pinot gris the first year, the practice was quickly given up; now the winery relies completely on stainless steel tanks for all its Pinot gris juice. The resulting wine is dry with no residual sugar, and medium-bodied in texture. Lake says the alcohol level is higher in Northwest Pinot gris than in the Alsatian version of the wine. Columbia’s Pinot gris is average in this respect, with an alcohol content between 13 and 13.5%. Lake describes the wine as giving off an elusive aromatic with spiciness typical of the varietal. It has a grapefruity character that is not easily articulated: “It displays a distinctive character with substantial qualities,” Lake says. He suggests pairing the wine with shellfish or oysters, but says his favorite match is Pinot gris with salmon.

Lake believes Pinot gris makes a nice change from Chardonnay.

"A lot of people are losing their fascination for oak. A growing number of people are looking for other varieties than Chardonnay. Pinot gris, like Semillon, is an excellent alternative.”

Other Pinot gris producers to watch in Washington are Thurston Wolfe (who makes a much sought-after blend with Viognier), Hogue Cellars, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Bainbridge Island Winery and Whidbey Island Vineyards.

Idaho—The New Kid on the Block

And now, Idaho has entered the Pinot gris scene. Sawtooth Winery, the second largest in the state, introduces Idaho’s first Pinot gris this summer with the release of its 2000 vintage. The wine has already made an impression; it won a bronze medal at the 2001 Enological Society Tasting held in July. Winemaker Brad Pintler first planted two acres of the varietal in 1998 at the winery’s own vineyards. Sawtooth produced less than 200 cases this year, but plans to nearly double that number next year.

Pintler thought of making Pinot gris after watching its growing popularity take off as a Pacific Northwest white wine. Pintler enjoys experimenting with different varietals. He is openly excited about his newest wine. “I take it to tastings and people just love it!”

The Sawtooth Winery Style

Pintler describes the Sawtooth Pinot gris as a “delicate wine,” light- to medium-bodied, forward fruit with good acidity. While the wine contains 1% residual sugar, Pintler says it doesn’t seem sweet at all because of its crisp acidity.

After harvest, the grapes were slowly fermented – something Pintler achieved by cooling the stainless steel tanks in which the juice is kept. He didn’t introduce the wine to any oak, feeling its varietal flavors would be best experienced without the interference.

"The wine works well with shellfish, and I would try it with a light dessert with pear sauce,” Pintler suggests.

While Sawtooth Winery currently sells most of its products in Idaho, the wines are beginning to make their way into other parts of the Northwest as well.

An Excellent Alternative

Pinot gris is a rising star in this part of the world. While this white wine may never be in demand as much as Chardonnay, it is making a name for itself as something different. If you have not yet tried this refreshing white wine, it is definitely worth a try.
 

Tasting Notes of Pacific Northwest Pinot Gris Wines

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