So, what happened when we started sipping this wine, is that we didn’t stop.
It was right before dinner, and we almost didn’t notice how easily the wine slipped into our mouths. Almost. Then we reigned ourselves in and started wondering what happened. At first the wine didn’t seem that compelling. Until we started to think about it.
Nearly all pinot gris, the wine also contains a touch of gewürztraminer and a wonderful, lightly rounded texture. There’s faint peachiness in the aroma, and a very smooth mouthfeel buoyed by an agreeable amount of minerality and lively acidity. Which adds up to a wonderful aperitif wine, a great choice for before a meal.
As it happens, the grapes for this wine were harvested during the first year of covid, which happened to be a very good vintage in the cool Carneros area of California. The vineyards here were untouched by the serious wildfires that devastated some areas. After harvest, the grapes were whole-cluster pressed, fermented in stainless steel, and left on the lees for four months. A few years later, and the wine is exactly what we want to be drinking.
WHO: Etude Winery
WHAT: 96.5% pinot gris, 3.5% gewürztraminer
WHERE: Carneros, California
HOW MUCH: $32 (media sample)
RATING: 92