Smith-Madrone

Two brothers, both alike in dignity…oh wait that’s an Elizabethan deep-ish cut and we aren’t talking Capulets and Montagues. This is California family, celebrating 50 years of fine fine vino. The name points to the Smith brothers, Charles and Stuart, as well to the Madrone trees on the property. And gosh they do sound like fun. The brothers, not the trees. I’m basing this on the fact that they hail from Santa Monica and that Stuart is an “active member of the G.O.N.A.D.S, (the Gastronomical Order for Nonsense and Dissipatory Society”. Also for their 50th they partnered with Cowgirl Creamery so like, yay people who see fit to involve cheesemongers in their affairs.

Spoiler alert–if you taste one thing from Smith-Madrone let it be their extraordinary Riesling. I was about to say it literally kills but that’s just bad grammar. But it does SLAY. The other two wines I tasted, a Chardonnay and Cab were delightful in their own right, but I was also chuffed to see such a Riesling out of Napa, where these things don’t grow on trees. I mean obviously they grow on grapevines but there aren’t many of them devoted to Riesling, so this was really excited.

Stop me from rambling. Here’s my reviews! And pairings. OMG. Here we go.

Smith-Madrone Napa Valley Spring Mountain Chardonnay 2018

It just keeps on giving. Came on almost too strong at first–nearly sweet in its richness. Buttery caramel corn with a spritz of Meyer lemon nose. But on the palate things get ripping. Mouth watering. And downright…well heck was that caramel corn treated to an ample sprinkle of flour de set because there is something saline going on too. Let it linger. In the glass. And it brings overripe blood orange, white chocolate even? Truly one of those delights for its ability to bring something new and delicious with every sip. There’s an almost herbal undercurrent. It’s good times. And a little marine or is that the salinity I was just citing? Pair with the latest Succession episode.

Smith-Madrone Napa Valley Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Rich n ripe, plush and silky. Green but like richly moss forest green Cabernet pyrizines tickle the tannins which are persistent, I’ll give them that they are like me in a dysfunctional relationship, unable to give up, but these tannins will make their case known and I will not break up with them. They are followed with black cassis and oaky fun–vanilla, maybe a toasty nut, and is that maybe even coconut omg it draws out the finish. All the richness ends with a hit of what I can only describe as marine blue freshness. That is probably my synesthesia–maybe some salinity or fresh herbal notes is a better way to describe it but to me it is undeniably marine blue. I paired it with a walnut while drinking it (go crazy, Elle) and lemme tell you a little protein goes a long way.

Smith-Madrone Napa Valley Spring Mountain Riesling 2018

One whiff gave me all the omg this is RIESLING feels–golden delicious apple plus petrol and a bit of orange blossom. The palate is voluptuous as a dry (I think?) Riesling can go. It’s deep and rich in fruit yet not overly ripe or cloying. Still on the palate I got on the nose notes, plus an overdose of honeysuckle and ALMOST buttery notes? It is light to the touch yet creamy but zippy, omg it’s egg cream vibes without the chocolate flavor? And then the characteristic sword of Riesling acidity cutting through. Allspice and slightly bark earthy notes come through on the finish. Pair with the latest Mandalorian.

Luxuriate

Napa, schmapa. I get all jaded like it’s expensive and exclusive and pricy and whatnot but then sometimes I open a bottle of Napa Cab and am like Oh. Hey there handsome!

Here’s to leaning into the popular! Delicious, delicious popular wine.

The winery, Davis Estates, is in Calistoga, the most northerly of Napa subregions. It is family-owned. And the president is a woman–shout out to Jessica Link! At any rate, I leaned into these wines. Anyone who truly knows me knows I am a sucker for a nice nice nice like nicccccce Chardonnay. Which theirs is, but also I thoroughly enjoyed the Cab and red blend.

Indulge yourself. I did. Myself. Indulge.

Davis Estates Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 This is wickedly redolent of black currant jams and purple plums, burnished with something that tickles the nose–call it pyrizines, call it pepper, call it the abv? But the nose finish (noses finish too) brings seductive vanilla. I seriously envision a woman in silk at the end of a sniff. It’s still wildly young, of course, but I enjoy a youthful wine. The tannins are definitely medium plus but to put in WSET Diploma terms I would say they are medium plus and dry, but velvety and optimally integrated, playing well of the ripe ripe fruit flavors, which on the palate bring more currants, black plums, cigar box (aka vanilla, and…okay just straight up cigar), and the teeniest tiniest hint of arugula. This is good juice.

Davis Estates First Responders Napa Valley Chardonnay 2020 Golden in hue and taste–the nose intrigues with pear, bruised yellow apple, vanilla bean and allspice. The palate is sumptuous, with terrific balance of acidity and buttered body. A touch of salted caramel carries…you know what? I’m thinking a dab of apple pie on a saltine. An agile, agile saltine. Sounds odd? Try it. I haven’t, but I feel like it would be a win win. Expansive with a core of buttered fruit. Plus, it benefits local responders!

Davis Estates Zephyr Private Reserve 202052% Cab Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot Tis an elegant fountain pen, with spiced berry medley punch and cigar box on the nose. Makes me picture a bed lined with satin sheets that both retain and give off heat level excitement on the palate. Rich body, but subtle, like a wealthy person with enough class to not be ostentatious. Firm and integrated tannins hold up a medley (yes another medley!) of blackberry compote, cedar, vanilla, and allspice. Drinking it feels like someone cloaking me in a fur lined jewel trimmed cloak.

No Holds Barra

I was generously offered the wines of Barra to try, and I’ll be honest, they had me at Mendocino. It’s region I had started a love affair with before I even breathed its air.

Then, I visited–the first trip I took post vaccine–and omg there was romance added to the love affair, like the lover becoming a real person, one who surprises you and becomes more a whole person, while maintaining their mystique because damn, every precious thing you discover about them, well, each quirk and nuance makes each day with them a new one. Sure, I only spent a few days in Mendocino but I am madly enraptured with the land, the people and yes the wine too.

So yes obvi I wanted to taste the wines. Barra is made with certified organic grapes and coaxed into wine status by Randy Meyer, who, much like many other Mendocino winemakers I met, holds hats for a few operations. He’s steering Barra and its other label Girasole, and he has a custom crush joint.

I appreciated the note that arrived with the wines informing me they don’t print tech sheets, but please find the information online. I end up with major tech sheet pile up sometimes so this is a good step. The wines followed suit–all showing a freshness that chills out a ripeness, and all over makes for balanced delight.

Barra Mendocino Reserve Chardonnay 2021

Just that hint of gunflint-y minerality battles the marshmallow and vanillin effect of oak and in the end they partner up quite happily. Warming nose, filled with aforementioned minerals and nutmeg, citrus compound butter and yellow pear, full-figured body (not quite voluptuous) brings all of the above, all with a bit butterscotch. Lovely and silky and just rich enough to be a winter white but lively enough to face a hot day too.

Barra Mendocino Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2020

All vibrant blackberry and black currant (so different from red) jam on the nose with hints of tobacco and just a touch of dried vine zest–JUST a tiny touch, like one finger gently place on the lips telling the pyrazines to whisper. Supple on the palate, neither heavy nor light, but somehow more than medium bodied–like it glides with some drag–and boasts expansive stewed berries (mostly black and blue) thinned just enough to slide through the mouth guiding professor-ly (like they wear tweed) hints of black currant, vanilla bean through. Shades of dried earth and cloves come in in the finish. It manages to be bright and classy, despite having rather elevated tannins and alcohol. Very friendly.

Barra Reserve Pinot Noir 2021

A nice little slip dress of a Pinot. A noir one, naturally. Lithe, pleasing, easy going. The nose brings ripe but not jammy cherries and makes me think “cherry Gushers” but not sweet. A mid-level palate, this wine has a texture to it, with drying tannins, that serve as a conductor of all the undercurrents in this wine–cola, tea, and mint. The big currents though? The ones that parade loudly? That’s more cherry. Vanilla bean. Allspice and cordial. Truly a pleasing specimen–and one of the things that endears me to Mendocino is evident here in spades: the fruit is ripe but not overly jammy or overly oaky, sort of how Oregon Pinots show to me these days. Damn this is good.

Sweets My Sweet

Every year Valentine’s Day happens. Of course. Same as every year, every yearly thing happens and yet somehow it throws us for a loop. It’s astounding how every late autumn we are like “OH. My. GOD. It is getting dark so early!” as if that hadn’t been happening at the same time every year all of our lives.

Still some things seem like big things. Valentine’s Day needn’t be. I’m comfy being single. There is romance in my life here and there but until I find my lobster I’m chill celebrating it single.

Oh um well that is until love finds me. I yearn for that but also oh f#*k I’m kinda busy for all that so why don’t I open some sweet wine for everyone.

Romancing one’s self (take that whatever direction you want) is an art. Wine is art. And wine as romance makes you the goddamned Mona Lisa for a minute. Today I have a sweet charmer to act both as a love letter to yourself and/or companions. It is actually a fortified wine–that is the wine is made and then there is extra alcohol added. That was way too simplified a description of the process, but that’s for another day. In the meantime, here’s your Valentine:

Gigondas La Cave Terres Blonde Muscat Beams de Venise is lithe, stone fruit forward with a solid lick of salinity and zooms of hyper-orange-blossom-water. Elegant and zing-y, light on its toes with a core of minerality. And yes it is sweet, but you know how you eat a nice ripe piece of fruit and yes, it is sweet, but “this is sweet!” is not what you would say, but rather, “this is a good piece of fruit”? Well, this wine is a good piece of fruit. Sort of a floral melon genre undervibe, and all over refreshing, too. hot air balloon vibes in that it is vibrant but lifted and soaring in an anchored sort of way. To sum up the tasting notes, it’s all melon and stone fruit and white roses that chill on wet stones.

Bring in the New

Spoiler alert, I’m gonna talk about the super fun bubbles from Argentina you too could be ringing in the new year with at the end, but first, how about a little catch up?

What a year it has been. Actually, it’s the first year in a while that has felt like a real REAL year, with in-person stuff and everything. And yet I have so many things I want to be better in 2023. I want to feel refreshed, because I am still a touch torn down. I usually keep it light and breezy here but I’m going to be real, the last few years have been a special sort of hell, with the occasional kiss of heaven, and I know not just for me. Physically and emotionally I’ve been through some shit, from seizures due to my body’s inability to maintain a reasonable level of sodium, to a bunch I won’t get into. But it’s been an exhausting few years.

Of course there has been the good too. I went to Italy twice last year. I keep saying that to myself because it feels like a triumph. I wrote a boatload, both scripts and wine/spirits/food stuff. I acted in some animated things and a spec episodic show, and took part in a bajillion table reads of other people’s scripts. I figured out I’m definitely bisexual. Late blooming but here I am–sex with women is great! Highly recommend. I started my own writer group, which has been invaluable both for the camaraderie and for forcing me to actually finish scripts–oh yeah I also finished a pilot and have the outline for a movie.

So what now in 2023? Honestly, so far the only big plan I have is too keep a “best of” contenders list of things I drink so that I can round them up and in a year share them with you. I taste a TON of things and my computer brain usually puts them in the “this is useful now or could be in the future for an article” but I seldom make a note when my mind gets blown. Maybe I’m not getting blown enough take that to mean what you will. Anyway. That’s my promise is in a year I’m gonna have a “best of” list. I’m also going to look for representation for my script writing. I also plan to continue healing my soul and keeping my health (and electrolytes) up and keep acting and…OH big thing…

I’m gonna start a Youtube wine show. It’ll be a crossing of wine education with some silliness thrown in and I want it to be both useful, and a place people can tune into because they’ll feel like I am their own personal wine buddy. Right now the working name is “Taste with Elle” cause that gives me leeway to throw in the occasional cocktail of food note. I’ll let you know.

And I AM gonna get a cat. Another black cat because ever since having one I can’t go back. I’ve been spending a lot of time scrolling for pussy and not just cause the bi thing.

But what to drink for the new year?! I am drinking this on New Year’s Eve eve actually but carry it forth with you as an idea for the future! I’m 99.99 sure I have not had traditional method sparkling wine from Argentina. I am putting it out there that I have-not been to a wine region in the Southern Hemisphere. Argentina, you don’t have to cry for me if you bring me to your vineyards.

So, I give you your new thing for 2023…MASCOTA VINEYARDS UNÁNIME SPARKLING WINE. It’s an intriguing blend of 85% Chardonnay and 15% Malbec, straight out of the Uco Valley, a subregion of Mendoza that boasts ridiculously high altitude. It exudes rich n ripe vibes straight out of the glass and into my nose–I smell ripe pears, pineapple, honey and sweet corn. Full body with a friendly sparkle, the bubbles are subdued. All the aromas come out in flavors on the palate, plus some browned applesauce and caramel drizzle. It’s a voluptuous but tenderhearted bubbly, outspoken but gentle.

Try it.

One last “for 2023” thing…getting even more acquainted with bubblies from around the world. I need to do that. That was the test I came closest to not passing in my WSET Diploma. And (one more MAYBE) if I decide to go after my MW I need to be on point for EVERYTHING.

But most of all myself. I can be here for you but I can’t let myself treat me poorly. The last few years I’ve been trying to get back on track. And I will.

Bord—eaux. Bored? No.

Off the bat, when I think of Bordeaux, I think Big Reds. Big Cabs. Bodacious Merlots. Banging blends? Um, when was the last time anyone actually called anything banging?

And yet I do appreciate a big personality.

Somehow big, with charisma, translates in my head to bang-able. So hey! Bangable Bordeaux blends it is. Especially the whites and Sauternes. They are sexy AF and I will never not say that, unless climate warming royally fucks us in the unenjoyable, not bang-able way.

Although! Bordeaux, as a region, is on top of adapting to climate change, having recently approved some new varieties, ones perhaps more at home in warmer climes. Who knows, the region could be on track for continued success. They’ve essentially been killing it since the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Louis IV (see it WAS sex appeal) and, oh shoot now it’s a complicated history of allegiances between England and France and…okay anyway that was in 1137, this has turned into a ramble but Bordeaux has been a stalwart ever since. In the wine world.

But with the new kids aka anyone born after, say, 1980-ish? Not so much. They (including me) have not been so keen on the region. The thing is, the big Bordeaux wines hit a pricing bubble. And got associated with old-school taste buds. And here’s the other thing–there are a ton of wines from the region with reasonable prices, especially the whites. And then we get to my true love, Sauternes. Which suffers as people don’t think they are supposed to be into sweet wines but my dudes, my dudettes, my duds and milk duds, they can be quite perfect.

Anyway I had the opportunity to taste some Bordeaux delights, nah, good enough for me to call them bangers, and here’s a Bordeaux Blanc and Sauternes delight. Get down.

Clos Floridene Graves 2019

The spectacular thing to me is that through all the ripe ripppppe mandarin, fresh cut grass and treacle nose, beyond the ripe peach and lemon-mandarin orange-honeysuckle palate, lurking beneath it all, is the idiosyncratic pencil lead/friendly ashtray minerality grit–not gritty–grit. It’s an oomph that declares I AM BORDEAUX. It is omnipresent in most reds but sometimes skips out on the whites but here it is. With graceful girth. just a hint of muscularity and bite beneath voluptuous fruit forward body. Really a tremendous wine.

Château Laribotte Sauternes 2018

The suave lushness, the underbrush of earth, the lift even under the sunshine of nectarines, tarragon, mushrooms and soil and then the honeysuckle of it all. It gives and it gives and evolves and it gives.

My sweet babies. Give Bordeaux a chance. You don’t have to delve into the crazy expensive Cru Classé wines. Unless you want to share a bottle of Château Margaux, or Leoville-Las Cases with me. I’m here for that. Or if you have a bottle of Château d’Yquem–that is on my bucket list of wines. But seriously, just get at least a Bordeaux Blanc and dm me to tell me how it was.

Be back soon. Much love.

It’s Getting Dark, Very Dark

Stick a steak knife in me, I’m done. As a goth vegetarian vampire who needs somewhere to put her anger I yearn for reasons slay something, anything, so long as it doesn’t have a heartbeat or a central nervous system. Hence these cruciferous slabs.

I made fun of the cauliflower as substitute-for-everything trend. Especially when one evening, all I wanted was a head of cauliflower to gobble whole, dipped in hot sauce as I do. And the store had no whole cauliflower, only containers of pre-pulverized cauliflower rice. Ugh. And I glanced askance at the cauliflower steak trend. Until, at a couple of dinners where I had no control (as happens to us hapless wine people) over what my meal would be, I was served cauliflower steaks. And they were FANTASTIC.

Still, why bring cauliflower steak home? I thought of it as an affair best left to work dinners and such. A dish to have out.

But then! Beyond the excuse to stab things and eat cauliflower, I had gotten a wine that looked goth AF and was named Very Dark Red, and OMG some steak knives. These Laguiole steak knives were goth as the wine, so I put some Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch Nails on, cranked the oven, murdered a cauliflower, and made a night of it, pairing the knives and wine with the dish.

PS knife pairings? Here for it.

My findings?

THE WINE: Sheid Family VDR (Very Dark Red) 2020

THE STEAK: slabs of cauliflower sprayed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and a touch of coriander, roasted in the oven, based on this recipe.

The two together?? Purrrrrr. I mentioned that in addition to being a goth, I am also part cat, no? This may be the best pairing I’ve ever devised on my own in the wild.

I appreciated that the wine is made of two very big petites: Petit Verdot and Petite Sirah. It’s a toasty and roasty nose, full of grilled plums and stewed prunes, black pepper and green peppercorn. It smells thick, if that makes sense.

Rich on the palate with blackcurrant cordial, stewed black cherry and more plummy prune-y goodness, but also some herbal freshness, even a hint at menthol? Along with charred green peppers and smoke. It is QUITE tasty. The tannins are plump and juicy, which is one of my favorite ways for tannins to be. it finishes vanilla and smoke possibly like goth’s favorite pillow.

Meow.

Try it yourself. Also TikTok deemed a video of me eating my cauliflower with a steak knife as inappropriate and danger so let me say, use a fork, chopsticks or your fingers. But feel free to carve with a knife. Bring on the steak! The cauliflower steak.

Walla Walla Woman Winemaker Wine x Tempranillo Day

Ooooh love a winery with a cheeky name, plus a history that also tastes fabulous and hey! is made by a woman.

In the last few years, my hope for women in the wine industry has grown greatly. In Los Angeles I’m surrounded by amazing women who are bosses at whatever they do in the industry and Get Respect. Despite having felt the need to pen this article about my experiences as a woman in wine, I felt like times they were a-changing. I crave those female-led enterprises.

And then of course I went to a big Pennfold’s tasting on the arm of a male friend, and every single new person we talked to (male and female) was eager to get his attention (he’s the beverage director for a restaurant group) and I got condescending smiles–like they didn’t even think I possibly could be a wine person. Maybe they thought I was the wife? Which I’m not, and even if I was that wouldn’t rule out me being in the industry. Incidentally, his wife is a one of the best tasters I know even thought she doesn’t work in wine. Anyway.

Later that night at another venue, we met the aforementioned super taster he’s lucky enough to be married to, at Wally’s, which employs women…and oh my oh my CAN IT EVER be the breeding ground for toxic vinous masculinity. The three of us were being blind-tasted by our section’s somm (also a friend of my male friend) and I called it a Chablis (aka Chardonnay from Burgundy), and said several times it seemed really reduced, and he ignored the shit out of me. Then mansplained that it was Puligny-Montrachet (ALSO Chardonnay from Burgundy) and that it was “reductive” as if I didn’t at least get the grape and region at large correct. Maybe technically reduced was the wrong way to say it was reductive?

But pretty sure he literally didn’t register that I existed the whole time. So.

GRRRRR.

Anyway. Let’s lighten this up and get to today’s gem: No Girls, which is all about the ladies, and makes this stellar Tempranillo. They have a woman winemaker by the name of Elizabeth Bourcier. The winery got its name for the building the owner bought in Walla Walla which had once been a bordello. At the top of the staircase “NO GIRLS” had been spray painted in the 1960’s, perhaps signifying women finding their power outside the hands of men…at any rate all I can tell you is they make good wine. I had the Grenache on my podcast awhile back, and I saved this bottle for…

OH HEY! It’s Tempranillo Day. Yay again.

Beyond mentioning it is tasty AF FTW here are some tasting notes yay yet again.

No Girls Tempranillo 2018

Deeply hued and murky. Smells of auburn fruit leather and damp earth, plus baking spices, from cloves to nutmeg, with a finish (can a smell have a finish? I say it can) that is saline. Dry dry dry as can be. The silkiest medium tannins you could hope to find partnered with a full but silk-tastic body. Still with prunes/dates/mud palate but augmented by even more potpourri and a certain tartness, like sour cherries that have been dried and rehydrated. yup. And the finish is…Montenegro amaro? Crazy. In my mind it conjured a mincemeat pie that had undergone just a soupçon of smoking, if I am being honest and I am.

I want to wear this wine by a fireside. And also? Fuck the patriarchy.

Yay.

Unprepared Pairing

I don’t drink Malbec. That much. Maybe that’s because it feels so much like a food wine to me, and I don’t eat.

Jk I’m an actor in Los Angeles. I eat sometimes. Especially when it’s free.

I won’t tiptoe around it. Last week, I was on a movie set and saw that craft services (aka “crafty” aka where to get snacks between meals and everyone’s favorite place on set) had…UNCRUSTABLES. That frozen aisle pbj sandwich on-the-go. So I tucked one of the pb and grape jelly ones into my bag for later. Because as I said I eat sometimes, but not on set.

At home, I had it with a glass of Trapiche Malbec and deduced that a) Uncrustables is a perfect food and b) it is THE perfect pairing with a rich Malbec and c) a good Malbec is even better with food.

You guysssss–you know how good peanut butter and jelly is? Somehow Uncrustables has the right proportions, but also is cute, with the fun of the crimped edge that gives you a little extra bread pull in some bites. I don’t know how they do it but damn, it is just right.

The grape-y and nutty and wheat trifecta is complemented by the richness of the Malbec, whose velvet tannins do a little dance with the fatty peanut butter. And the sweetness of the grapes in the jelly are mitigated by the dryness of the grapes in the wine and ALL of that happens at the same time. It’s a gorgeous thuple.

I suppose some people look to wine writing for fanciness, but here I am to advise on frozen pbj pairings. Or maybe I should take up more food posts again–to be fair my last post was devoted to cheese so I would like to think I am doing the good Lordess’ work. And now for your tasting notes!

The Trapiche Medalla Malbec 2020 was made to celebrate Trapiche’s 100 year anniversary. The nose is sweet. I know, I know, a smell can’t be sweet, but it smells of sweet fruit and a soupçon of tobacco. The body is full and tannins velvety. The oak is talkative, and the fruit (red and black, plums and raspberries) follows, then comes creamy vanilla extract-style vanilla. But there is a pep in this Malbec’s step. A flood of blackberry juice mid-palate. A bit of crunchy earth and cedar grip that comes in at the end, so that’s super funsies. A bit of spice and another hit of juice-laden red plums comes at the ens.

This wine is a lot. If you like a big New World red you’ll like it. If you like brawny meat I think you’d like it with that? From what I remember of meat? It also would do well with stuffed red peppers methinks. And it is AWESOME with a grape jelly Uncrustable.

As I write this, I am on a different set, and while crafty did have dark chocolate Milanos and multiple flavors of Nature Valley granola bars (amongst other things), a crafty with Uncrustables has set my bar high for crafty. The Trapiche has inspired me. Onwards artists!

Seriously Good Grigio

There are wines that Wine People dismiss. And when I say Wine People, dare I say wine snobs? I do dare, and confess I might be one just-a-little-bit. And I am guilty of overlooking today’s grape. Is it because I’ve noticed it is the go-to white wine for a lot of my friends who aren’t Wine People/Snobs? Maybe. Well, the more I think of it, the more I realize that that’s a silly reason to dismiss a wine–if it brings people happiness, maybe I should pay attention.

I’ll stop the preliminary banter. The wine I am speaking of is Pinot Grigio. There are SERIOUSLY good Pinot Grigio wines out there, especially once you learn you can get one of higher quality–more complexity, more balance, more beauty– by looking to a Pinot Grigio from a specific appellation.

The appellation in question today is the DOC Delle Venezie, which was created in 2016 to draw out the best of Pinot Grigio from the Triveneto, aka Tre Venezia. The Delle Venezie DOC includes a few different regions: the Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia (never can I ever remember this region’s in full–somebody take my Diploma from me) and Trentino, all located in Northeast Italy.

I actually was just in one of those regions, the Veneto, in June, chilling out, the way wine people do, sucking down quite a bit of Pinot Grigio, from sunup to sundown, on the shores of Lake Garda. As one does. So Pinot Grigio was on my radar as something to rekindle my relationship with. And then I was lucky enough to be sent a couple of bottles of it from the DOC Delle Venezie, which solidified my feelings that I’d been neglecting the grape for too long.

A little terminology tutorial: DOC stands for “Denominazione d’Origine Controllata”, and is meant to ensure that if you drink a wine labeled as such-and-such DOC, that you know where it came from, what grapes it was made from, how it was made, and so on. But most of all, you can be assured that the quality of the bev in the bottle will be what you expect, what you wanted, in some situations what you NEEDED, and that you will not be disappointed because it’s a friggin’ DOC. And DOCs have STANDARDS.

DOC Delle Venezie is a standard bearer for the quality Pinot Grigio.

There are a bunch of reasons why three different regions (which in reality are not so far from each other) can lend one named denomination to the grape. In terms of climate, they all benefit from the protection of the Alps to the north. And then there are multiple rivers that flow through them. So there’s coolness to moderate sun which yayyyyy (if you are an acid-lover like me) usually means the wine will sport refreshing acidity. Flowing water also often means the terroir will be well-ventilated. Temperatures (especially when on hills) will vary from night to day leading to a long ripening span(yay ripe fruit) and acidity levels that never say die.

Now that you know a little more about the region, here’s a smidge more about the grape; let’s call it Pinot Grigio basics: The skin of the grape has a grey-pink tinge, leading to the wines having a coppery color, and in fact when more skin contact is allowed Pinot Grigio can be look like a rosé or sometimes even orange wine. Typical aromas include citrus, stone and orchard fruit. The acid tends to be elevated (see: porch pounder), and other fave pinot-tastic flavors include a certain beery-y nature as well as hints of peanuts. and sometimes flowers.

Within the Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC one can be assured that yields are limited–an important part of quality control, as overcropped grapes=diminished quality. And in this DOC the wines actually undergo a tasting to make sure each bottling stands up to the regional standards. I myself tasted a couple of examples from the region and both made me happy to have Pinot Grigio in my glass.

NATALE VERGA PINOT GRIGIO DELLE VENEZIE DOC

Tart n tangy! A lot of peach yogurt vibes and traditionally PG all day–bruised fruits, peanut shells and stale beer (in a good way, trust me). Look, here is the thing: Classic Pinot Grigio is like a baseball game beyond those last two tasting notes. It has peaks and lulls and you’ll come back for more.

ALLEGRINI CORTE GIARA PINOT GRIGIO DELLE VENEZIE 2020

Lighter and fresher and fun. More citrus-y and less lees’y although there was a hint of shells and lactic quality to it, if that makes sense. But most of all, the acidity was clean and clear and I was drinking it with girlfriends on a hot hot day and we couldn’t get enough.

TAKE HOME MISSIVE

Learn how to find the good. Drink the good. Do good. Be you. And if you are a Pinot Grigio lover, this post was for you.

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