Snooth.com has brought back their Global Tasting Initiative. For the month of August, the Snooth community is encouraged to learn, taste and drink Pinot Grigio. This entire month-long event will use the hashtag #GtiPinotGrigio. Writers, bloggers and consumers are encouraged to chime in with tweets, blog entries and articles about Pinot Grigio.

I seem to recall that Pinot Grigio made a big splash on the wine scene several years ago. It prompted the plantings of many more acres of the varietal grape. However it takes time for a vineyard to grow up and attitudes towards many wine varieties shift over the years. The popularity of Pinot Grigio may have cooled a bit. At the Wineries Unlimited Conference held in Richmond, Virginia during March 2001, Danny Brager from Nielsen Research showed statistics for the wines consumers are purchasing. The white wines showing increases in sales include Riesling and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. However it is the family of Muscat varieties that led the pack during 2010. Pinot Grigio wasn’t mentioned.

A year earlier at the 2009 Drink Local Wine Conference held in Northern Virginia a panel of winemakers was discussing white grape varieties that do well in Virginia. The only Pinot Grigio comment was that it is boring. When I’m not drinking wine, I’m drinking hot or iced tea. My preference is to have a lot of lemon added to my tea. I don’t think lemony citrusy Pinot Grigios are boring. The wine can easily be drunk by itself and pairs well with many foods.

If we look at the wines that Kathy and I make as an indicator, the whites are led by Muscat, trend setting. I do want to make a small batch of Sauvignon Blanc. There are no plans for a Pinot Grigio, however on our next trip to Oregon we’ll re-evaluate that position.

Cheers,
Terry