Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio

This is classic Pinot Grigio from Friuli-Venezia Giulia made for us by Christian Patat at Necotium. Unoaked, expressing remarkable energy and freshness, the wine displays an attractive clarity, while still embodying the texture and tone expected of 100 percent Pinot Grigio. The nose hints at white peach and orange blossom, while the palate is vivacious on the attack, with floral notes, crisp acidity and peach fruit.
Katherine Dart MW - Wine Buyer

Until 31st August 2017 this product is discounted by up to 30%. Prices shown include discount; no further discount will be applied at checkout.            

Jim Jerram is the leading pioneer of the developing Waitaki Valley viticultural region. His Ostler label is based in the hamlet of Kurow (where Richie McCaw played his first rugby) and has developed a fine reputation for Pinot Noir and aromatic whites. The name comes from Jim’s great-grandfather, William Ostler, who came from Yorkshire to this area in the 1850s. The Waitaki climate is cooler than Central Otago, thanks to afternoon easterly breezes sucked in from the coast, however the ripening season is longer and lower frost risks.

Showing lightly caramelised red apples and pears on the nose this richly bodied Pinot Gris delivers a delightful blend of spices on the palate. Gingerbread, cinnamon and rose petal dance on the tongue accompanied by green fruit and a hint of lychee. These flavours and its generous texture make it a perfect match for pan-fried scallops or Munster cheese.

Aromas of citrus, camomile and quince layer with saline minerals and floral complexity. The attack is rich and scented, the mid-palate filled with density and plenty of ripe fruit. It’s gloriously textured, youthful and vivacious. Drink now to 2018.
Katherine Dart MW, Buyer

Try a glass of this with Lis Neris winemaker Federica Pecorari’s frico – find her family recipe on our blog here. 

Rolly Gassmann is located in Rorschwihr, a sleepy village on the northern rim of Haut-Rhin. Louis and Marie-Thérèse have no wines from Grand Cru sites, but from a set of very good lieux-dits such as Silberberg, Muenchreben and Rotleibel. The vineyards are located in Rorschwihr, the neighbouring Rodern and Bergheim, and exhibit large geological differences.

Rolly Gassmann has a unique style. Each wine is a small masterpiece with very good definition and a certain shameless, velvety texture. The fruit is honeyed but balanced with a precise acidity which defies its age. Rotleibel has a heavier, heat-retentive red marl soil, perfect for late-season harvesting.

Made from 100 percent Pinot Grigio, fermentation starts in stainless steel tanks but is run off and finished in 500-litre French oak. With 11 months’ ageing on the lees, this is no ordinary Pinot Grigio. The weight and matter on the attack and mid-palate give depth and length to this finely textured wine that ages deceptively well, though the fruit is lighter and the acidity is fresher in the 2014.
Drink 2016-2022.

Rubbing shoulders with Heimbourg  and overlooking Turckheim, this small but steep, west/northwest- facing, red calcareous vineyard tends to give fruit blessed with fine acidity. This was particularly welcome in the super ripe 2005 vintage, when the tiny, berry by berry, 8hl/ha harvest was especially late and strung-out, giving 280 grams of residual sugar and only eight percent alcohol.

Consequently the wine's disarmingly succulent, toast, honey, barley sugar and peach flavours are perfectly balanced by an extra gear of freshness and mouth-watering acidity. This is decadent and delicate all in one.

Showing a harmonious combination of smoke and flint flavours with hints of white fruit on the nose, the 2007 Pinot Gris Rangen is delectably balanced. This intricate wine inundates the palate with flavours of peaches, honey and poached pears. Sweetness shines through on the palate, but thanks to its vibrant acidity, it blends in very quickly. Pinot Gris Rangen should evolve and drink well for 15 years.

Chocolate can be something of a dam buster for many of us; a single square and the flood gates are open with will-power washed meekly away in favour of the immediate pleasure offered by gluttony. If this is the case and you are unable to resist the siren call of cacao, then why not fill your glass with something equally decadent and allow yourself to be swept up in it all?

The driver behind Humbrecht's Clos Windsbuhl wines is their acidity and the freshness it gives them, which makes this late harvest Pinot Gris a natural partner for all decadent chocolate permutations that even the most creative of minds (in the William Curley vein) might be able to concoct. Notes of honey and apricot combined with the aforementioned acidic backbone and it's hard to imagine life beyond dessert.
Nicholas Stewart - Wine Buying Team

Lovely aromas of white stone fruit, peach, pear and apple blossom hits the nose. The palate is rich and concentrated on the medium plus bodied side. The quality of this wine can be seen on the textural quality of the palate, with a lovely density and viscosity, Poire William in the foreground with a tension, brightness and vibrancy that lasts throughout the spicy minute long length. A very expressive and serious Pinot Gris, one that can drink from 2019 – 2030+.
Stuart Rae, Private Account Manager

With the customer in mind, Hugel have redesigned their range to reflect the different levels of quality in very simple and International terms.
Hugel first and foremost is an advocate of the dry style of Alsace wine. Hugel wines are tight, structured, mineral and dry – unless they’re sweet.

The “Grossi Laüe" range is made from their top Grand Crus vineyards (Riesling from the Schoenenbourg and Gewurztraminer from the Sporen).
Finally, the crème de la crème “Schoelhammer” which is on par with the great Trimbach Clos St Hune. The tiny production of this single vineyard called “Schoelhammer” is proudly sitting at the top of the their range, made from only 30 rows of vines and with a mere 4288 bottle production. 

Wow – there is a lot going on here! Mirabelle plum, blood orange, yuzu and a waxy, nut oil note on the nose. This is broad and structured, yet not as heady as Pinot Gris can be, there is a real sense of precision here amidst the weight of the wine. Only produced when the Trimbach family are happy it has the quality to merit the Reserve Personelle label, this was the stand out wine of the tasting for me. If you can resist the temptation, give this a couple of years in the cellar and then enjoy over the following decade. Simply put, the best Pinot Gris I have ever tasted and extraordinary value to boot. Wonderful.
Fergus Stewart, Private Account Manager

The Trimbach family is one of France’s greatest winemaking dynasties, having made wine in Alsace for over three centuries (since 1626) based in the picturesque town of Ribeauvillé.

If Zind Humbrecht produces wines of extravagant power at one end of the spectrum of excellence within Alsace wine making, then Trimbach definitely stands at the other extreme – “Restraint” is the watchword.  The Trimbach style is paraphrased perfectly by Hubert Trimbach and the family itself – “Concentrated not heavy; fruity, not sweet; bracing rather than fat; polite rather than voluptuous. Trimbach wines are reserved, steely, elegant, even aristocratic; never obvious or flashy.  We are Protestants.  Our wines have the Protestant style – vigour, firmness, a beautiful acidity, lovely freshness. Purity and cleanness, that’s Trimbach.” For those weary of the copious residual sugar found in so many of the contemporary Alsace wines, Trimbach’s are a refuge.

As the family moves into its 13th generation, with Pierre’s daughter Anne now working in the business (& Jean’s son Julian studying vine science at Dijon), Maison Trimbach remains a byword for fine dry Alsace Riesling. 

Famously controversial for opting out of the Grand Cru classification back in 1975 on account of the overly generous yields & low sugar levels (low quality) required, in the past five years the negociant has added 15 hectares of prime Grand Cru sites, notably in Osterberg, Geisberg, & Schlossberg, bringing their total to 45ha.  So the family are clearly not closing the door on the possibility of releasing single Grand Cru vineyard wines, albeit in tiny quantities. However they lament the fact that France’s supermarkets continue to buy up 75% of the region’s production, selling Grand Cru wines at around €7/bottle on the shelf.

Meanwhile their brands of (Riesling) Cuvee Frederic Emile, (Pinot Gris) Reserve Personnelle & (Gewurztraminer) Cuvee des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre remain central  to the range, made from both own fruit & bought in fruit; they remain a clear step up in terroir finesse from the fruitier ‘Reserve’ lines.  Clos Ste. Hune is estate’s finest Riesling, from a 1.67ha ‘clos’ within Grand Cru Rosacker; the provenance readily communicated but still absent from the label.  So as winemaker Pierre Trimbach signs off his 34th vintage in charge, this is still very much an estate to watch.

These wines are considered the benchmark for quality, consistency and style.