My Pinot Gris Experiment

It seems like I can’t get enough of Pinot gris. I don’t mean the white wine, but the grape. Unlike most white wine grape varieties that have yellowish-green skin, Pinot gris skin is grayish pink. As mentioned in my previous blog posts (The Pinot Gris You Never Knew and The Peeno Noir You Never Knew), Pinot gris, Pinot noir, and Pinot blanc are genetically the same grape. What differentiates them is the amount of anthocyanins or color pigments present in the grape skin and pulp.

Gemini-generated color spectrum of wine

The length of maceration (or skin contact) employed during the winemaking process has a direct impact on the wine color. It determines if your Pinot noir is going to be red or pink and if your Pinot blanc is going to be white or orange. In the case of Pinot gris, the gamut may run from white to pink and orange. In Friuli, Pinot Grigio (Italian for Pinot gris) is traditionally made with skin contact, typically in the range of one day to two weeks. Known as Ramato, the wine blurs the line between a pink and orange wine. 

This year, I decided to experiment with making a Ramato-style Pinot Gris. Below is my documented process.

Day 1 - Crush and Macerate

The grapes arrived from Crawford Vineyard the same day they were harvested. The grayish pink berries in the signature Pinot pinecone-shaped clusters were then weighed and placed into crates, ready to be crushed and de-stemmed. Once processed, the crushed grapes and juice (also known as the must) went into my fermenter with a bit of sulfite to kill any microbes and wild yeasts, preventing any off-flavors during fermentation.

My Pinot gris grapes

Adding sulfite to the must

At home, I kept the must in my “garage winery” at around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, the optimal temperature for my chosen yeast strain. If I were to make a white wine, I would immediately press the grapes to minimize skin contact. In this case, I decided to let the grapes macerate in the must and watch the color of the juice.

Day 3 - Press and Ferment

As the sulfite wore off in 48 hours, it was the time to pitch the selected wine yeast and start the fermentation process. I needed to decide if I would do it with or without skin contact. Judging from the deep salmon hue of the juice, I made the call to press the grapes prior to fermentation, ending the two-day skin contact. (In the video, my friend and wine sidekick helped collect some free-run juice during press.)

The grape skins and seeds as well as random stems were discarded as part of the process. The remaining juice was funneled into a couple of glass carboys with the yeast starter. Before long, the yeast started eating the sugar in the juice to produce alcohol. Carbon dioxide was also released as a byproduct that protected the must from pesky bacteria-carrying fruit flies.

Start of alcoholic fermentation

Day 7 - Measure and Rack

 

Four days after the yeast was pitched, the Brix reading on the juice had reached zero, indicating that most of the sugar had been fermented. That was probably the fastest alcoholic fermentation I had experienced. It was also my first time using a white wine yeast strain.

Sediments settled after racking

I racked the juice off the sediments and into new carboys to minimize the headspace. This would prevent oxidation and spoilage as fermentation slowed down and less carbon dioxide was released. The sediments (or the ‘lees’), which consisted of dead yeast cells and grape debris, soon settled to the bottom of the carboys. The clear juice that sat above was a beautiful neon salmon pink.

Day 14 - Rack and Cold Stabilize

I waited another week for the long tail of the remaining fermentation to complete. The Brix reading finally reached -1.5 degrees. The wine tasted dry but had a light fizz, indicating a bit of fermentation was still underway. In a glass, the wine was a gorgeous light salmon in color. The nose was aromatic, perfume-y, and citrus-y. On the palate, it tasted like a tart lemonade with high acidity, medium body, light tannins, and a long finish. Alas! This was trending more towards a rosé than an amber wine. But oh so pretty!

Taste test before cold stabilization

This final step was to rack the wine off the sediments again and into a freshly sanitized carboy. I added a bit of sulfite to stop any residual alcoholic fermentation and to prevent any native malolactic fermentation. Malolactic fermentation is the conversion of malic acids in the wine into lactic acids. I typically orchestrate this secondary fermentation when making red wine to soften the acid and to give it a creamier fuller mouthfeel. In the case of this Pinot gris, I decided to keep it bright and cheery.

Thoughts and Next Steps

Winemaking is such a learning experience, and I have enjoyed this Pinot gris experiment. If I had to do it all over again, which I just might with my next vintage, I would make three changes:

1. Increase the length of maceration and start alcoholic fermentation on the skin
2. Use a red wine yeast strain
3. Encourage natural malolactic fermentation 

These would allow me to extract more phenolic compounds from the grapes and give the wine more complexity. The result will be more like an orange wine. But for this year, it will be a pink Pinot gris. The wine is right now going through cold stabilization in the fridge for at least three weeks. After which, I will do another taste test. If it tastes great, it may be time to bottle. It is all very exciting! Cheers!

The Peeno Noir You Never Knew

You may have heard of Peeno Noir. It’s a little ditty by Tituss Andromedon about a wine that rhymes with mid-sized car and Roseanne Barr. Apart from its “poetic” quality, Pinot noir is one of the most fascinating grape varieties. Here are three fun facts.

Pinot by Tituss

1. It’s Ancient

Pinot is among the oldest grape varieties. Cultivated in Burgundy since the 1st century AD, Pinot noir is possibly just one or two generations away from its wild Vitis vinifera sylvestri ancestor. That makes it almost 2,000 years old! 

Pinot (red arrow) in the Genealogy of Wine by Pop Chart Lab

If you look at Pop Chart’s genealogy of wine, you will see that Pinot is among the early ancestors of today’s wine grape varieties. In fact, Pinot is the grandparent of Sauvignon Blanc and the great grandparent of Cabernet Sauvignon. While only three generations apart, it is estimated that Pinot is about 1,600 years older than Cabernet Sauvignon. Other famous descendants of Pinot include Syrah, Carménère, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and Viognier.

2. It’s Colorful

The other thing you will notice in the genealogy chart is that the Pinot grape listed is of an undetermined color variant. That is because three Pinot grapes previously thought to be different varieties have been confirmed by DNA testing to be the same grape with different color mutations - Pinot noir (black), Pinot gris (grey), and Pinot blanc (white). 

While many believe that Pinot gris and blanc are mutations of Pinot noir, that theory has recently been challenged. Mutations appear to be bi-directional. One can find black, grey, or white berries growing from a single Pinot vine. In this specific scenario of color mutation, the DNA chains may have or miss the sequence that gives the berry its pigmented skin.

Pinot noir by Cjp24 in Wikimedia

Pinot gris by Reinhold Möller

Pinot blanc by Themightyquill in Wikimedia

Mutations are not to be confused with clones. A grape variety is mutated when some genetic characteristics are no longer identical to the parent vine. Clones, on the other hand, share the same genetic makeup of a grape variety but manifest different qualities, such as providing a higher yield and possessing better disease tolerance. 

Clones are often identified by one to four-digit numbers. Pinot noir is famous for having the most clones of any grape varieties. There are about 800 to 1,000 Pinot noir clones. Many have names like Dijon and Pommard followed by numbers, such as Dijon 777 and Pommard 5. Pinot gris and Pinot blanc each has about 200 clones.

3. It’s Demanding

Pinot noir is notoriously challenging to cultivate and vinify. Its tightly packed clusters and thin skin make it prone to mold, fungus, and pests. Pinot noir vines are also among the earliest to bud break and have to contend with spring frost to ensure sufficient fruit set and subsequent yield. The best Pinot noir can only be grown in cool climate areas such as Burgundy in France and Willamette Valley in the United States where it is able to fully develop its flavor.

Miles explained why he loved Pinot in Sideways

For all the difficulties, a good Pinot noir is prized for its complex flavors and ability to express terroir. Pinot noir is sensitive to distinct soil types, elevations, and exposure to the elements. A young Pinot noir is subtle and fruit-forward with red and dark fruit. With some age, flavors such as earthiness, truffles, and cocoa begin to layer in. In the 2004 movie Sideways, Miles Raymond summed these up as the reasons why he loved Pinot noir.

According to luxury auction house Sotheby, the most expensive wine in the world is the famed 1945 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Grand Cru priced at $558,000 a bottle. Whether you are a Pinot noir fan like Miles Raymond or you are more like Tituss Andromedon, you now know a little bit more about the grape and the wine. So be sure to pay attention to the haunting, brilliant, thrilling, subtle, ancient flavors as you enjoy your glass of Pinot noir in your boudoir or leather bar - oh so close and yet so far.

The Pinot Gris You Never Knew

Pinot Gris is often thought of as the grape next door - commonplace, approachable, and pleasant. Originating from France, Pinot Gris is mostly used to make a dry white wine that is zesty with notes of stone fruit. The grape is also known as Pinot Grigio in Italy, where the style of wine made tends to be lighter and livelier with higher acidity. Either expression of the white wine makes for easy sipping in the summer but not something that wows the palate.

Grayish-pink Pinot Gris by Reinhold Möller

It’s Not Really White

What you may not know is that Pinot Gris is not even a white grape. In fact, it is a mutation of Pinot Noir, where one of the two cell layers responsible for berry color is missing anthocyanins. It is crazy to think that both grapes are genetically identical except that the skin of Pinot Gris is grayish-pink (“gris” is gray in French) while the skin of Pinot Noir is deep dark red (“noir” is black in French).

Anthocyanins by Bruna Branco on Unsplash

Anthocyanins are color pigments found in many blue, red, and purple fruits and vegetables. Although anthocyanins by themselves are odorless and nearly flavorless, they do interact with aroma substances during the vinification process to enhance the flavor of the completed wine. Because of its lower level of anthocyanins, Pinot Gris is seldom made into a red wine. 

You Say Rosato

In recent years, I have seen more Pinot Gris being made into rosé (or rosato in Italy). That was actually how I found out that Pinot Gris is not a white grape. SMAK, a woman-owned winery in Walla Walla that makes rosés exclusively, has a summer blush that is 100% Pinot Gris. Depending on the vintage, the color ranges from light copper to pink hue. But it is always crisp, with notes of peaches and melons as well as delicious minerality. I have since tasted other pink Pinot Gris and generally prefer it to the dry white expression.

SMAK Summer Rosé

I Say Ramato

Last year, I had a taste of the 2020 Holocene Pinot Gris that blew my mind away. It had a beautiful deep orange-red hue and the aroma was a juxtaposition of smoke, cigar, and stone fruit all at once. On the palate, it was vibrant yet smoky and complex with notes of whiskey.

Is this a red, pink or orange wine? As I savored the wine, I knew this much - that was not a white wine! I would have pegged it as an orange wine except that it was not made with white grapes. Holocene website describes their Pinot Gris as a “great balance between a ramato-style orange wine and a rosé.” 

2020 Holocene Pinot Gris

So what exactly is ramato? Wine scholar Lynn Gowdy of Savor the Harvest described it best when she wrote “(o)range wines are made from white grapes, rosé from red grapes, and ramato only from Pinot Grigio.” Ramato style of Pinot Grigio originated from the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region of Italy. It was the traditional way of making Pinot Grigio till the 1960s when white Pinot Grigio was popularized and exported.

Because Pinot Gris (or Grigio) is technically a red grape, one could argue that ramato is closer to a rosé or rosato than a traditional orange wine. However, the length of skin contact for a ramato sits somewhere between that of a pink wine and an orange wine. Depending on the winemaker’s style, maceration may last from 24 hours to two weeks and hence the wine develops the kind of complexity that is more commonly found in an orange wine than a pink wine.

My Verdict: Why limit yourself to dry white Pinot Gris? In my opinion, Pinot Gris blush and ramato are far more interesting and delicious. Give it a try this summer and prepare to be wowed. The grape next door does not always have to be plain.