Moving, and have 3 urgent questions, so anyway, about Pinot Grigio

June 29, 2008 1:03 PM

SO setting the more pressing questions aside, I'm having an evening of wine and conversation with my former educational director and always friend...Wine is the libation of choice...

She is a winebibber, and wine is not my poison of choice. And when I do imbibe I prefer reds. Or a cold Zinfadel if I'm in a hurry.
So (as there will be more than one bottle) what do you recommend for under, say ten/twelve bucks? The difficulty, she wants Pinot Grigio. "My preference". Except I don't have one.
and for future reference as well...

posted by dawson to food & drink (13 comments total)

I meant when I do imbibe wine. Heaven knows I'm a drinker. Of beer and tequila
posted by dawson at 1:13 PM on June 29

OK then, so I don't know what I'm talking about...how bout under thirty a bottle? But not over fifty?
posted by dawson at 1:45 PM on June 29

I am not into wine but as some place to start you could check out a few episodes of WLTV, most episodes are reviews of wines within your price range, watch a few and pick one that sounds interesting/good to you.
posted by humanawho at 1:55 PM on June 29 [1 favorite]

Wow, humanawho...
whatta link! I will watch it all later, for reals. I like the Joe Pesci/Mama Cass (she's pretty!) mixup here.
I knew I should have asked a 'human relations" question!
posted by dawson at 2:10 PM on June 29

You might find an answer at The Frugal Oenophile. His blog's mission statement:

My Wine of the Week is selected on the basis of "bang for the buck." I taste 100-200 wines each month hoping that I'll find at least a few that offer good, every day value. My weekly picks are loosely based around a $12 ceiling, and must be readily available.

Here are the results of searching his blog for "grigio," and he offers basic pairing suggestions. (Even if you don't have dinner planned, putting out a little tasting plate is an easy way to class up a cheap wine. The flavors really bloom with food.)

Wow, I see a few bottles there that I'm going to put on my shopping list.
posted by Elsa at 2:40 PM on June 29

Santa Margherita (~$25ish a bottle?) is a good Pinot Grigio, though nothing particularly special. If she likes Pinot Grigio, you might also consider Pinot Gris, which is the same varietal, but from the US or France. Willamette Valley (in Oregon) is a fantastic source for domestic US Pinot Gris. Adelsheim, I think, was the one my wife and I liked, and I think it was $20ish a bottle.

Definitely go to Costco if you're a member....
posted by JMOZ at 2:44 PM on June 29

Go to World Market, Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, if there's one of those nearby, and check out their selection. You'll almost certainly find a delicious pinot grigio in your price range.
posted by limeonaire at 2:54 PM on June 29

Second the Santa Margherita as a safe wine. My own personal experience with whites is that all the pinot grigios I've tasted have been relatively palatable. In my mind it tends to be a middle of the road, safe wine varietal to take a chance on. Not so for chardonnays, which, again in my experience, tend to have both higher highs and lower lows in terms of inter-bottle taste.

If you have access to a nice liquor store (like Sam's Wine and Spirits or Benny's here in Chicago), I've found the associates there to be extremely trustworthy in their recommendations.
posted by Osrinith at 5:57 PM on June 29

And when I do imbibe I prefer reds. Or a cold Zinfadel if I'm in a hurry.

Just to help you avoid a faux pas: people who like (real) wine think of white zin the way jazz lovers think of Kenny G. (What people who like wine think of as real) zinfandel is a red wine (and an excellent one—I always recommend it to go with Thanksgiving dinners).
posted by languagehat at 6:20 PM on June 29 [1 favorite]

You won't go too wrong if you just go to the supermarket and pick a $10 pinot grigio off the shelf. That wine in that price range is pretty well interchangeable. Find a domestic wine - California if possible. Avoid the yellow tail brand pinot grigio; that is a $4 wine that the screwed up exchange rate has inflated to $10.
posted by ikkyu2 at 8:26 PM on June 29

Thanks, y'all. I guess I did OK. The stuff I ended up choosing sorta randomly, for ten bucks, was the same stuff she'd gotten herself. That is, her favorite.
You won't go too wrong if you just go to the supermarket and pick a $10 pinot grigio off the shelf.
Very true!
But wine is better with food in my opinion...
posted by dawson at 8:24 AM on June 30

But wine is better with food in my opinion...

So don't drink it in the supermarket, then. Take it home and have it there.
posted by ikkyu2 at 7:27 PM on June 30

O hay.

I am a big drinker of inexpensive Pinot Grigio. It's agreeable to everyone I drink wine with and offers enough variation and subtlety bottle to bottle to keep my interest without dropping me too hard. I love Barefoot, which is peaches and raspberries to my palate, a rather sweet choice, and Bargetto, the smoothest tart white I can recall.

May I suggest you share your choice for AskMe prosperity?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:57 AM on July 1