Pinot Grigio is no one trick pony as proved by this year’s Global Masters competition for the grape. Here we pick out the top 10 performers from a range of price points from the sub £10 to over £20, covering countries from Romania to New Zealand, as well as Italy and France.

10. Sistina Pinot Grigio IGT

This excellent sub £10 Pinot Grigio hails from the Italy’s coastal Chieti region, which lies within Abruzzo, where hillside vineyards deliver a pleasing combination of pear and nectarine fruit with some peach stone on the finish. Clean and bright, but not dilute, a very good value form of refreshment.

• Wine: Sistina Pinot Grigio IGT, 2020
• Producer: CITRA VINI SOC. COOP
• Region: Abruzzo
• Country: Italy
• Blend: Pinot Grigio 100%
• Vintage: 2020
• Residual sugar: 2.6g/l
• Price range: Under £10
• Approx UK retail price: £9.99
• Medal: Gold

9. Leefield Station Pinot Gris 2020

New Zealand is fast emerging as an excellent place for good value Pinot Grigio, or more commonly, Pinot Gris – reflecting the fact it tends to produce a slightly richer, more French-like style than you’d normally find in Italy. It also seems to have a distinctive character, as shown in this Leefield Station, which has pear and citrus fruit, but also passion fruit and grapefruit zest, as though there’s a dollop of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in there too. The result is something full in flavour, soft in texture, and still refreshing.

• Wine: Leefield Station Pinot Gris 2020
• Producer: Marisco Vineyards
• Region: Waihopai Valley
• Country: New Zealand
• Blend: Pinot Grigio 100%
• Vintage: 2020
• Residual sugar: 2.9g/l
• Price range: £10-£15
• Approx UK retail price: £12.99
• Medal: Gold

8. Hyperion Pinot Grigio

This exciting find comes from Romania’s Dealu Mare wine region, where warm, dry conditions yield a Pinot Grigio with plenty of peach-like flavours, along with a hint of bitter almond and orange zest, in this nicely balanced, intensely-flavoured dry white.

• Wine: Hyperion Pinot Grigio
• Producer: The Iconic Estate
• Region: Dealu Mare
• Country: Romania
• Blend: Pinot Grigio 100%
• Vintage: 2018
• Residual sugar: 2.7g/l
• Price range: £10-£15
• Approx UK retail price: £14
• Medal: Silver 

7. Ménage à Trois Limelight Pinot Grigio

Proving that California is a great place for inexpensive, juicy Pinot Grigio is ‘Limelight’ from Ménage à Trois, which is packed with creamy pear and peach, along with a touch of apricot, before finishing with a note of apple and citrus, and a fine dry tannin. It’s a very fruity style, with a touch of sweetness, but not at the expense of brightness – an aspect to the wine boosted by blending in a small proportion of Riesling.

• Wine: Menage a Trois Limelight Pinot Grigio
• Producer: Menage a Trois Wines
• Region: California
• Country: USA
• Blend: Pinot Grigio 77%, Riesling 11%, Colombard 8%, Muscat 2% and Chenin Blanc 2%
• Vintage: 2019
• Residual sugar: 6g/l
• Price range: £10-£15
• Approx UK retail price: £13.99
• Medal: Gold

6. Three Thieves Pinot Grigio

This is another good-value, ripe style of Pinot Grigio from California, this one under the Three Thieves label, and comes with a surprisingly broad range of fruit flavours, although it does contain a small proportion of other grapes. Expect a combination of peach and pear, along with lycee and fresh grapes, followed by a hint of bitter almond. It’s quite a rich style, with some subtle sweetness, but it finishes with a fresh apple-like cleansing sensation. 

• Wine: Three Thieves Pinot Grigio
• Producer: Three Thieves Wines
• Region: California
• Country: USA
• Blend: Pinot Grigio to 77% Pinot Grigio, 11% Riesling, 8% Colombard and 4% ‘white blend’.
• Vintage: 2019
• Residual sugar: 5.7g/l
• Price range: £10-£15
• Approx UK retail price: £13.99
• Medal: Gold

5. Corvara

Hailing from one of Trentino’s top Pinot Grigio producers, Albino Armani, is this delicious example from the sub-region of Valdadige. Loaded with fleshy white peach, ripe pear, a touch of cream, and some delicate sage-like herbal notes, it’s a complex Pinot Grigio, with layers of flavour, while it benefits from both a soft mouthfeel, and a refreshing acidity.

• Wine: Corvara
• Producer: Albino Armani Viticoltori dal 1607
• Region: Veneto
• Country: Italy
• Blend: Pinot Grigio 100%
• Vintage: 2020
• Residual sugar: 4g/l
• Price range: £15-£20
• Approx UK retail price: £15
• Medal: Gold

4. Rulendis Pinot Grigio

Another first-rate Pinot Grigio from Trentino, but this time from one of the region’s major cooperatives, Cavit, the Rulendis is the producer’s top expression, and takes fruit from some of this mountainous region’s highest vineyards. The result is a Pinot Grigio with intense flavours, from apricot and peach to almond and pear, while, despite the gently creamy texture, there’s a crisp edge to the wine that keeps one wanting more.

• Wine: Rulendis Pinot Grigio Trentino Superiore DOC
• Producer: Cavit
• Region: Trentino
• Country: Italy
• Blend: Pinot Grigio 100%
• Vintage: 2019
• Residual sugar: NA
• Price range: £15-£20
• Approx UK retail price: £20
• Medal: Gold

3. Punggl Pinot Grigio

Offering something a little different from the Pinot Grigios featured so far in this list is the Punggl label from Nals Margreid in the Alto Adige. Why? Made and matured in old oak vats, there’s a breadth and complexity to the wine that makes it stand apart, with a touch of cream, and almond, mixed with flavours of ripe pear and lemon curd, along with a chalky, salty note and a touch of tannin, that makes the wine refreshing, without being firm.

• Wine: Punggl Pinot Grigio
• Producer: Nals Margreid
• Region: Alto Adige
• Country: Italy
• Blend: Pinot Grigio 100%
• Vintage: 2020
• Residual sugar: 2.3g/l
• Price range: £15-£20
• Approx UK retail price: £16.50
• Medal: Gold

2. Pinot Gris Roche Calcaire

Offering Pinot Gris in a style not found anywhere else, or, at least, not to such a high degree of quality, is the biodynamic Domaine Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace. Although this isn’t the producer’s ultimate expression, it’s a fantastic taste of what Pinot Gris can deliver, yielding flavours of beeswax and marmalade, along with peach and pear, and a wonderful texture that’s oily, gently sweet, while finishing dry, chalky, and mouthwatering.

• Wine: Pinot Gris Roche Calcaire (Biodynamic)
• Producer: Domaine Zind-Humbrecht
• Region: Alsace
• Country: France
• Blend: Pinot Gris 100%
• Vintage: 2018
• Residual sugar: 4.6g/l
• Price range: £20-£30
• Approx UK retail price: £20
• Medal: Gold

1. Pinot Gris Roche Volcanique

Gaining the highest overall scores in this year’s Pinot Gris Masters was the Roche Volcanique expression from Alsace’s Domaine Zind-Humbrecht. Rich, powerful and layered, it’s a complete wine, with flavours from butter to beeswax, along with pear and peach, and, while providing a weighty, slightly sweet sensation in the mouth, it never fails to refresh, with a salty note, along with fine-grained phenolics, drying the palate on the finish, readying one for another generous serving.

• Wine: Pinot Gris Roche Volcanique (Biodynamic)
• Producer: Domaine Zind-Humbrecht
• Region: Alsace
• Country: France
• Blend: Pinot Grigio 100%
• Vintage: 2018
• Residual sugar: 3.5g/l
• Price range: £20-£30
• Approx UK retail price: £29
• Medal: Master

About The Global Pinot Gris Masters

With high-quality judges and a unique sampling process, The Global Pinot Gris Masters provides a chance for your wines to star, whether they hail from a famous region or a lesser-known winemaking area of the world. The top wines are awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals according to their result, and those expressions that stand out as being outstanding in their field receive the ultimate accolade – the title of Pinot Noir Master.

Please visit The Global Masters website for more information, or, to enter future competitions – giving you the chance to feature online and in print – please call: +44 (0) 20 7803 2420 or email Sophie Raichura at: sophie@thedrinksbusiness.com

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