King Estate Signature Collection Pinot Gris

Name: King Estate Pinot Gris
Color: White
Varietal: Pinot Gris
Vintage: 2008
Country/State: Oregon
Region: Willamette Valley
Price: $14
Stars: 4.5 (out of 5)


The King Estate Pinot Gris is often mentioned as a great value, as well as an excellent representation of Oregon's success with Pinot Gris. Recently, it was named the St. Pete Times Wine of the Week, was recommended by the New York Times wine columnist, and was named to Wine Spectator's Top 100 wines of 2009. Is it worth all the hype? I would say so.

We had this wine last night with Chinese take-out (sesame chicken and pork fried rice), after watching Kentucky thoroughly dominate the over-matched LSU Tigers. Another strong effort by the Beast, DeMarcus "Boogie" Cousins and the boys. Patterson was really active today and had a great game, too.

Krista and I both enjoyed the wine and quickly finished the bottle that night. The wine had a nice medium body feel in the mouth, with good weight and rather zippy acidity. The nose was dominated by pear, peach, and citrus fruits. The taste was similar to the aroma, along with some nice minerality. It's a fresh and fruity wine that goes well with many different dishes.

Fish Eye Pinot Grigio

Name: Fish Eye
Color: White
Varietal: Pinot Grigio
Vintage: 2008
Country/State: California
Region: Various
Price: $7
Stars: 3.5 (out of 5)


I'm still not really a fan of Pinot Grigrio, but this one was recommended in several places and the price made it worthwhile to take a shot. The Fish Eye Pinot Grigio was a clear, pale straw color in the glass. It was pretty tasty, with lemon and green apple flavors dominating. The wine was well-balanced and highly drinkable.

We drank this wine with a dinner of fish and crab meat with pasta. It paired very well and was also nice on its own after dinner.

MezzaCorona Pinot Grigio

Name: MezzaCorona
Color: White
Varietal: Pinot Grigio
Vintage: 2008
Country/State: Italy
Region: Trentino - Alto Adige
Price: $8
Stars: 3.5 (out of 5)

For a widely available, inexpensive, mass-produced wine, this MezzaCorona Pinot Grigio is very good. It's a wine that's definitely meant to be drunk young, and it functions as a cool, crisp, refreshing white for a hot summer day. The color is a pale straw, with a nose and taste of lemon, lime, peach, and citrus.

We drank this wine first on Friday night, with tilapia and crab meat. We finished it tonight on its own after dinner. The wine went well with the fish and was also very refreshing and tasty without food. It's hard to get too excited about a cheap Pinot Grigio, but for a summer sipper, you could do a lot worse than the MezzaCorona.