Tony Terlato, the man who brought us Santa Margherita, America’s best selling Italian wine, now has a Californian version with his name on the label. While most folks who order Santa Margherita don’t even know (or care) that is a Pinot Grigio, folks who order this one will. It is a brilliant example of varietal expression. Doug Fletcher, VP of Winemaking for the Terlato Group (formerly Paterno Imports) chose Russian River Valley as a source for Pinot Grigio. His logic is that as Pinot Grigio (or Pinot Gris) is a mutation of Pinot Noir it too should perform well in the appellation. The wine is made at the company’s Alderbrook Winery in Dry Creek Valley (the Napa wines in this new brand are made at Rutherford Hill Winery). 1800 cases were produced. Pale, clear, straw yellow, and moderately viscous, the wine has aromas of lemon, hazelnut, biscotti (cantucci - the ones with toasted almonds), straw, and pine. Medium bodied with clean, fresh notes of hay and straw on the palate, the wine has moderate acidity and some pleasing creaminess from a combination of barrel fermentation, no malolactic fermentation, some lees stirring, and barrel aging. This is the second release and retails for $24.

Pinot Grigio resembles Pinot Noir until veraison. The clusters when harvested are a beautiful copper color. Being a natural genetic mutation, Pinot Grigio has all the intrigue, complexity and flavors of Pinot Noir, with none of the red color. This vintage suggests that the Russian River Valley can produce Pinot Grigio every bit as glorious as its famous Pinot Noirs. The fruit comes from two vineyards in the Russian River Valley. The grapes were hand harvested and delivered to the winery in half-ton picking bins in the cooler mornings in order to maximize the grapes' integrity.

want to try !