High and dry

THE Pinot Grigio grape is as famous as the Pinot Gris of Alsace. But it performs very differently in its mountainous area of Friuli in the north-east of Italy.

The region, more precisely known as Friuli-Venezia Giulia, borders on Austria and is especially well known for its varietal wines. It consists of three appellations - Grave, Collio (also known as Collio Goriziano) and Colli Orientali del Friuli.

French and German varietals have been grown in Collio for nearly 200 years. However, Caterer decided to taste Pinot Grigio wines because of the recent popularity of Italian wines made from the variety in restaurants and bars in the UK. It also demonstrates the exciting changes that are taking place in the making and marketing of white as well as red Italian wines.

Our regular judges, Michael Edwards and Joe Hyam, were joined this month by Michael Buriac, senior lecturer at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, and Nigel Windridge, director and wine buyer for Ebury Wine Bars, London.

Windridge was able to confirm that northern Italian Pinot Grigio was one of his best-selling white wines. "We got through 105 cases of this variety in October alone," he said.

There was less agreement than usual about which wines were outstanding. Most did agree, however, that the wines were well made. The widespread use of modern, cold fermentation methods was as much in evidence here as elsewhere in the world. The fruity style of the wine was noted and appreciated, but some of the team were disappointed not to find more fresh, sharp "squeaky clean" wines in the tradition of the region, while others were impressed by the more complex and concentrated wines that had a character all of their own.

The spice of Alsace may have been missing in many instances, but there was a full, rounded quality that would not have been found in Italian whites a few years ago, yet which still did not evoke the Pinot Gris of Alsace.

Michael Edwards was particularly pleased with La Viarte from Grave del Friuli, which conformed with his expectations of the region. The wines in the tasting that he liked most, he said, tended not to be from the vaunted and more expensive area of Collio.

The two wines that earned the most uniform praise were the Silvio Jermann and Puiatti. Opinions differed about the Conte Attems. This was the favourite of one taster while being only mildly appreciated by another.

All tasters commented on the variety of bottle shapes and on the range of styles that we tasted. Most wines, contrary to the common belief that Italians prefer their white wines to be bland and not perfumed, had a good bouquet, a full fruity quality and relatively high acidity. n