Did you know? . . . Pinot Grigio vs. Pinot Gris

Upon receiving a bottle of Oregon Pinot Gris in the early days of this blog, we immediately started scratching our heads. What was the difference between this and the oh-so-popular Pinot Grigio? We had actually never heard of Pinot Gris, although the two sounded very similar. So, what is the difference?

A little research quickly revealed: not much. They are the same grape. Of course, all the rules of climate and soil apply. They say the difference rests in the treatment of the wine: Pinot Grigio is made in the Italian style, and Pinot Gris in the French style. For us, and most of our readers, that's a little too deep. We find Pinot Gris typically has a heavier mouth-feel to it. Pinot Grigio often comes off much lighter. Think of whole vs. skim milk. But, that's just our observation.

For fun, a little trivia: "pinot grigio/gris" means (in both French and Italian) "gray pine cone." The grape itself has grayish tones and the growing cluster looks like a pine cone. In fact, all Pinot grapes (Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Blanc) have this "pine cone" in their name, due to their appearance.

Pinot Gris / Pinot Grigio Grapes
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinot_gris