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quick check of a few wine retailers online had between 35 and 57 Pinot Gris for sale and several dozen available at any one of the big supermarket chains. New Zealand-produced Gris is still very popular, with prices ranging from $6.99 to more than $60.00 a bottle. The vast majority of wines are non-sparkling, but you can find Pinot Gris Rosé and blend versions as well. What’s clear is that Gris remains a very popular variety and wine with consumers. Styles within the category are quite varied and price plays a big role on the scale of quality – the higher the price the higher the quality. Pinot Gris is a lot harder to grow than you might think – it tends to want to crop heavily on the vine and while this might be good for volume, it’s not so good for flavour concentration and texture. Gris is also a variety that doesn’t produce a lot of acidity naturally, though it does increase in cooler climates, and if cropped too heavily, flavours become dilute and the resulting wines are often manipulated into a specific style. Consumers
who like to pay at the lower end of the retail price scale can get wine with higher residual sugar, lower acidity and higher alcohol with little flavour. Conversely, at the higher end of the price quality scale, Gris will often have power and concentration, a great mouthfeel and texture with lots of flavour. Mid-priced Pinot Gris tend to offer the best value and deliver well on flavour and texture. When it comes to food pairing with Pinot Gris, there are many applications. Generally - most Gris is medium weight with acidity at the same level, often with a fleshy mid-palate texture and flavours of white fleshed orchard fruits. This style lends itself to dishes with fresh cheese – like cottage or mozzarella medium weighted dishes such as a mild Indian curry with coconut, most mild Thai dishes with seafood or chicken and nearly all vegetarian and vegan dishes. If you consider beer battered fish and chips classic Kiwi fare, then you’ll also find classic New Zealand Pinot Gris a good match. One of the best matches with Gris is crayfish and sauce mornay.
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Cameron Douglas is New Zealand’s first and only Master Sommelier. An experienced wine writer, commentator, judge, reviewer, presenter and consultant, he is academically in charge of the Wine and Beverage Programme at AUT University in Auckland and is Patron of the New Zealand Sommeliers and Wine Professionals Association. Douglas consults to a variety of establishments, taking care of their wine lists, wine and food pairings, and staff training matters and he currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas. 20 THE SHOUT NZ – MARCH 2021