Pinot Gris

Pinot Gris is not a wine that comes close to being in my regular drinking rotation.  Other than bottles from Alsace most of the ones I've tasted have been insipid at best.  It's just not a wine that excites me.

However, give me a good sale price and I'm willing to try one on for size.  That's what happened when I picked up a bottle of Montinore Estate 2009 Pinot Gris from Oregon's Willamette Valley.  The wine had moderate alcohol levels and was made with organic grapes from am estate that practices biodynamics. 

Very pale in the glass and not much of a nose to get excited about, but there was a taste of just ripe pear and apple and just a hint of some tropical fruit.  Plenty of acid made this quite a refreshing wine in the way it felt in the mouth.  Nice long after taste that was clean and prickly.

Definitely a summer style white wine that could stand up to a deeper chill than I usually put on my whites.  It went great with a pan seared piece of Pacific cod that was minimally seasoned. 

Nice effort and a nice wine.  13.4% alcohol and $11 on sale.