Pinot Gris

Pinot Gris is the richer, fuller-bodied white made from the grey-pink-skinned mutation of Pinot Noir, and the French region of Alsace is its spiritual home: a deep-golden, dry to off-dry wine of ripe peach and apricot, honey, ginger and a distinctive smoky note, built on lower acidity and a broad, oily weight. It is the very same grape as Italy's pale, crisp, neutral Pinot Grigio — but where the Italian style is picked early for lightness and freshness, the Alsace style is left to ripen fully for power, texture and concentration. Grown around the world, from Oregon and New Zealand to Germany and northern Italy, it shifts dramatically with how it is named, picked and made, making it one of wine's great chameleons.