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All the medal-winning wines from the Global Pinot Gris Masters 2022

23 September 2022 By Patrick Schmitt

This year’s Global Pinot Gris Masters saw wines from Trentino-Alto Adige shine, although there were some first-rate samples from England and Moldova too, as you can see in our report on the competition for 2022.

Pinot Gris, with its copper-coloured berries, is ideally suited to the creation of pale pink wines

For the majority, the grape Pinot Gris, best known as by its Italian name, Pinot Grigio is associated with one thing: light, fresh-tasting white wines from northern Italy. But, as this year’s Global Pinot Gris Masters once again proved, there is a surprising level of stylistic diversity when it comes to this single grape, as well as an increasingly broad range of sources.

Yes, the mainstay of the wines in this year’s competition were fairly delicate and bright whites from Italy, but there were also drops from Eastern Europe, Australia and New Zealand. And there were fuller expressions, including some that were aged in oak – as one would more commonly do with Chardonnay – along with a set of lovely sparkling wines, and excellent rosés: Pinot Gris, with its copper-coloured berries, is ideally suited to the creation of pale pink wines following a brief skin-contact.

While we didn’t taste any sweeter wines this year, Pinot Gris can be the source of outstanding late-harvest as well as botrytised expressions that are richly sweet and long-lived – the region of Alsace being the most famous source of such styles.

However, to focus on the samples in 2022’s Pinot Gris Masters, the tasting kicked off with a small flight of sparkling wines. Among these were some clean and zesty tank-method ones from the Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC – wines that offer a drier, brighter and slightly less aromatic alternative to Prosecco. For a different expression, there was also a bottle-fermented example from England, which, following seven years lees-ageing, was creamy and bready, but also, in keeping with other English sparkling wines, fresh tasting, with plenty of crisp-apple-like acidity.

Among the still wines, starting with the cheapest expressions, it was notable how good the samples were from Trentino-Alto Adige, where the verdant hills of this Italian region, which rises up towards the Dolomites, produce refreshing examples, but with plenty of appealing orchard fruit flavours, primarily apple and pear. But coming close in quality among the sub £10 Pinot Grigios were those from Romania and Moldava, along with other parts of Italy and the Yarra Valley in Australia.

As the tasting incorporated increasingly pricier expressions, it was still those Pinot Gris from northern Italy (Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige) that gained the Gold medals. Nevertheless, strong Silvers were awarded to wines from New Zealand – a source of increasingly good Pinot Gris, often in a slightly more textural, oilier style than Italy – and a top-end example from Romania, called Hyperion from The Iconic Estate.

Meanwhile, those wines that had been made and aged in oak, showed that the flavours of fine Pinot Gris can be successfully married to barrel-sourced characters and texture, with Mezzacorona’s Pinot Grigio Riserva from Trentino-Alto Adige being the star performer in this niche category, although La Roncaia from Friuli-Venezia Giulia was also good.

Finally, among the rosés, although we didn’t award any Gold medals to the pink Pinot Gris in this year’s Masters, we had a set of Silvers, including one from Moldova’s Vinăria Sălcuța. Such wines, pale and dry, showed that Pinot Gris can make a pretty and refreshing, as well as affordable alternative to the pinks from Provence.

Please read on to find out more about The Global Pinot Gris Masters, as well as to see all the medal-winning wines from this year’s competition, starting with sparkling wines, and then onto still wines, which are arranged according to price band and style (unoaked, oaked, rosé).

Winery	Name of Wine	Region	Country	Vintage	Medal
Sparkling Pinot Gris
£15-£20
La Cantina Pizzolato	Spumante Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC Extra Brut	Veneto	Italy	2021	Silver
La Cantina Pizzolato	Spumante Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC Extra Dry “M-use”	Veneto	Italy	2021	Silver
Enotria Tellus	Viajo Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC Dosaggio Zero	Veneto	Italy	2019	Bronze
£30-£50
Fox & Fox Mayfield	The Elizabethan Blanc de blancs	East Sussex	UK	2014	Silver

Winery	Name of Wine	Region	Country	Vintage	Medal
Unoaked Pinot Gris
Under £10
Cavit	Mastri Vernacoli Pinot Grigio Trentino DOC	Trentino-Alto Adige	Italy	2021	Gold
Cavit	Terrazze Della Luna Pinot Grigio Trentino DOC	Trentino-Alto Adige	Italy	2021	Gold
Citra Vini	Farinelli Pinot Grigio IGT	Abruzzo	Italy	2021	Silver
De Bortoli Wines	La Bohème Act 3 Pinot Gris	Yarra Valley	Australia	2021	Silver
Nosio	Extra Special Pinot Grigio	Trentino	Italy	2021	Silver
The Iconic Estate	La Umbra Pinot Grigio	Romania	Romania	2021	Silver
Vinăria Sălcuța	Njoy Pinot Grigio	Stefan Voda	Moldova	2021	Silver
Terre di Rai	Pinot Grigio DOC delle Venezie	Veneto	Italy	2021	Silver
Mezzacorona	Castel Firmian Pinot Grigio	Trentino-Alto Adige	Italy	2021	Silver
Nosio	Forte Alto Pinot Grigio	Trentino-Alto Adige	Italy	2021	Silver
Enoitalia	Voga Italia	Veneto	Italy	2021	Silver
Casa Girelli	Castellore Pinot Grigio delle Venezie	Veneto	Italy	2021	Bronze
Wakefield/Taylors Wines	Promised Land Pinot Grigio	SA	Australia	2021	Bronze
Perlage	Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC	Veneto	Italy	2020	Bronze
Enoitalia	Vitis Nostra Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC	Veneto	Italy	2021	Bronze
Castello di Roncade	Pinot Grigio DOC Venezia	Veneto	Italy	2021	Bronze
£10-£15
Ca’ Bolani	Pinot Grigio Friuli Aquileia DOC	Friuli-Venezia Giulia	Italy	2021	Gold
Church Road	McDonald Series Pinot Gris	Hawke’s Bay	New Zealand	2021	Silver
Cantina LaVis	Pinot Grigio – Classici	Trentino-Alto Adige	Italy	2021	Silver
Marisco Vineyards	The Ned Pinot Grigio	Marlborough	New Zealand	2021	Silver
Cavit	Bottega Vinai Pinot Grigio Trentino DOC	Trentino-Alto Adige	Italy	2021	Silver
Marisco Vineyards	Leefield Station Pinot Gris	Marlborough	New Zealand	2021	Silver
Tenuta Ca’ Vescovo	Pinot Grigio Friuli Aquileia DOC	Friuli-Venezia Giulia	Italy	2021	Silver
Cantina di Salorno	Tolloy Pinot Grigio	Alto Adige	Italy	2021	Silver
Wakefield/Taylors Wines	Estate Pinot Gris	Clare Valley/Adelaide Hills	Australia	2021	Bronze
Concilio	Sentiero dei Pini Pinot Grigio delle Venezie	Veneto	Italy	2021	Bronze
Citra Vini	Sistina	Abruzzo	Italy	2021	Bronze
Citra Vini	Pinot Grigio IGT	Abruzzo	Italy	2021	Bronze
£15-£20
Cantina Sociale di Trento	Contessa Giovanna Manci Pinot Grigio Trentino DOC	Trentino-Alto Adige	Italy	2021	Gold
Kris Winery	Pinot Grigio DOC delle Venezie	Friuli-Venezia Giulia	Italy	2021	Silver
Cavit	Rulendis Pinot Grigio Trentino Superiore DOC	Trentino-Alto Adige	Italy	2019	Silver
The Iconic Estate	Hyperion Pinot Grigio	Dealu Mare	Romania	2021	Silver
£20-£30
Botter Spa	P.Lex Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC Bio	Veneto	Italy	2021	Gold

Winery	Name of Wine	Region	Country	Vintage	Medal
Oaked Pinot Gris
Under £10
De Bortoli Wines	17 Trees Pinot Grigio	Riverina	Australia	2021	Bronze
De Bortoli Wines	Winemakers Selection Pinot Grigio	Riverina	Australia	2021	Bronze
£10-£15
Mezzacorona	Mezzacorona Pinot Grigio Riserva	Trentino-Alto Adige	Italy	2020	Gold
Az. Agricola Ca’ di Rajo	Pinot Grigio DOC delle Venezie	Veneto	Italy	2021	Silver
£20-£30
La Roncaia	La Roncaia Pinot Grigio	Friuli-Venezia Giulia	Italy	2020	Silver

Winery	Name of Wine	Region	Country	Vintage	Medal
Unoaked Rosé Pinot Gris
Under £10
Nosio	Extra Special Pinot Grigio Rosé	Trentino-Alto Adige	Italy	2021	Silver
Vinăria Sălcuța	Njoy Pinot Grigio Blush	Stefan Voda	Moldova	2021	Silver
Cavit	Terrazze Della Luna Pinot Grigio Rosato Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT	Trentino Alto Adige	Italy	2021	Silver
Terre di Rai	Pinot Grigio Blush DOC delle Venezie	Veneto	Italy	2021	Bronze
Nosio	Terre del Noce Pinot Grigio Rosé	Trentino	Italy	2021	Bronze
£10-£15
Cantina LaVis	Pinot Grigio Rosé – Classici	Trentino	Italy	2021	Silver
Antonutti	Pinot Grigio Ramato DOC	Friuli-Venezia Giulia	Italy	2021	Silver

About the competition

With high-quality judges and a unique sampling process, The Global Pinot Grigio Masters provides a chance for your wines to star.

The 2022 competition was judged on 5 July at Ibis Styles, London, employing experienced judges, including Patrick Schmitt MW, Patricia Stefanowicz MW, Beverly Tabbron MW, Andrea Briccarello, Adam Porter MW and Jonathan Pedley MW.

The top wines were awarded Gold, Silver, or Bronze medals according to their result, and those expressions that stood out as being outstanding in their field received the ultimate accolade – the title of Rosé Master. This report features the medal winners only.

Please visit The Global Wine 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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