We were speaking today with a small producer in the Valdadige, the long narrow region that extends from the suburbs of Verona up into Trentino. This guy makes Pinot Grigio with a couple of clones that are well-adapted to his area. We were talking about America's insatiable thirst for this wine, which is represented by dozens of labels in any decent-sized wine store. We discussed at length the astonishing popularity of a wine that almost tastes like water (with a color to match). At one point, the winemaker told us, "Well, of course, most of it isn't really Pinot Grigio. If you gathered up all the Pinot Grigio we make up here in Northeast Italy, it would fill only about two containers. All the big brands -- ALL of them -- dump in plenty of Trebbiano Toscano, Chardonnay, whatever they have left over. As an example he mentioned Santa Margherita: "40% Pinot Grigio and no more.
"You could just write 'Grigio' on the label and they'd sell it."
This is, of course, completely in line with the ancient if not honorable wine maker's/merchant's tradition of extracting as much value out of his wine as possible -- all the better if he can palm off a cheap, inferior wine as something a little better and/or, as I write this laughing, "more authentic." Yet, as the "scandals" of the past couple of years have shown us with Brunello and Valpolicella, cheating the consumer and making monkeys of the wine press is a well-developed sport.
Speaking of the wine press, could it be that their gullibility (and/or their complicity) in these cute games is the real reason they take so much heat from bloggers and most people who are serious about wine? And one of the main reasons their clout is declining so precipitously?
As to the producers: enjoy it while it lasts. If nothing else, changes in fashion are going to make your financial woes even worse than they already are.
A Fiat broke down on you? Who would have thought?
Posted by: JM | 01/25/2010 at 06:29 PM
Actually it was an Alfa that broke down. The Fiat was OK.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Posted by: Domenico | 01/26/2010 at 01:55 AM
Supposed to be 85% pinot grigio by the DOC. I see that wine in the US for 21 to 25$ retail and 5 or 6€ in Italy. Talk about a moneymaker...
Posted by: michele colline | 01/26/2010 at 12:37 PM