Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/44136
VARIETALLY CORRECT Barone Fini: Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy Giovanni Bonmartini-Fini, proprietor of Barone Fini, likes to pair Pinot Grigio with unusual foods. "My favorite match is with old-fashioned ragù a la bolognese, a supercharged, oily, meaty sauce. Big reds battle this dish, but Pinot Grigio has the most magnificent character, fabulous and fresh, crisp and simple. But no matter what dish is presented, Pinot Grigio resets the palate and allows appreciation of the fifth and sixth bite." Trentino-Alto Adige's Dolomite soil, calciferous with trace elements from the sea water that covered it millions of years ago, allows vines to stay healthy with very low levels of intervention. "Our terroir is all about minerality; it's why we're a DOC. We also don't have much insect pressure and sometimes don't even need to add sulfides." Bonmartini-Fini's uncle Sebastiano, from whom Giovanni inherited his property in 1997, was like a second father. "I admired everything he did. Once, when I was in college, my uncle and I went to a fancy New York restaurant. He was such a kind man, so elegant, and he had those old waiters eating out of his hand. There are three strands to my life in wine: my passion for the grape, my desire to honor Pinot Grigio and my love for my uncle. I'm just trying to make him proud." Castello Banfi: Tuscany, Italy Cristina Mariani-May, Banfi's driving force, believes that Pinot Gris is particularly adept at taking on the characteristics of where it is grown. Pinot Grigio had never before been planted in Tuscany, but when Mariani- May's family began growing it on their San Angelo single vineyard in Montalcino in the early 1980s, it found a natural home. Cristina believes that Pinot Grigio's only possible weakness is that there are so many on the market that have little character and are nondescript. "An uninformed wine consumer may be misled into the falsehood that Pinot Grigio is a neutral and insipid wine; unfortunately, they are not exposed to the broad range of sublime and diverse expressions of Pinot Grigio when in the hands of an attentive winemaker." 86 / the tasting panel / october 201 1 Giovanni Bonmartini- Fini advocates Pinot Grigio as an ideal food wine. Zind Humbrecht: Alsace, France There is a great simplicity in how Olivier Humbrecht describes his biodynamic practices. "They are all about prevention and not cure. By the time something must be cured, it is too late, because we cannot add most of the things to our vineyards and wines that would cure such problems. So we must try to prevent them before they occur by the homeopathic spraying of beneficial, organic substances and only working in our vineyards on specific days that are most beneficial to our vines." There's no denying that Olivier's wines are sought out by wine enthusi- asts the world over. But this estate truly excels at dessert wines. Alois Kracher: Burgenland, Austria Weingut Kracher's single dry white wine is made from Pinot Gris and offers excellent value. Kracher also produces some of the world's most sought-after dessert wines, almost all of them botrytis-affected, from a variety of grapes including Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. Alois Kracher died tragically young, and there was a great deal of skepticism in the wine community over whether son Gerhard and wife Michaela could keep their surname synonymous with Austrian wine, especially Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA for short), a sweet dessert wine style that is justly famous in Austria, in large part due to Alois's efforts. This skepticism was compounded by the subsequent death of Gerhard's grandfather, who had come out of retirement to help steady the helm after the demise of his son. But after sam- pling some of the bottlings produced entirely by Gerhard subsequent to both Alois's deaths, I can say that Weingut Kracher is alive and well and still on top. Milbrandt Vineyards: Columbia Valley, Washington, USA Butch Milbrandt, co-owner with brother Jerry of Milbrandt Vineyards in Washington's Columbia Valley, says that Pinot Gris, more than any other grape variety, expresses the terroir from which it grows. "The fruit is so subtle that elements of terroir are easy to recognize in the background. Another great strength of Pinot Gris is its approachability, definitely not overpowering yet containing more than enough fruit and structure. It's easy to appreciate." Milbrandt believes that Pinot Gris will continue to increase in consumption due to its subtle fruit, softness and refreshing style. "But I'm sad to say that it will never catch up with Chardonnay, which has a more definite flavor profile that can easily be manipulated to appeal to many more customers." J Vineyards: Sonoma County, California, USA Pinot Gris from California is often labeled Pinot Grigio because of its similarity in style to the wine of Italy. But J Vineyards' Communications Director George Rose thinks J's Pinot Gris is more Alsace in style. "In 2010 Melissa Stackhouse took over from George Bursick as head winemaker. George did a ton for J Vineyards during his tenure, but Melissa has taken our single-varietal program, including the Pinot Gris, and run with it. Her energy is a big part of what now defines J as a winery." PHOTO: DOUG YOUNG