Late summer fare perfect with Pinot Gris
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TODAY’S iDeal section delves into the unassuming gourd. These fruits are technically part of the Cucurbitaceae family and not only have great symbolic meaning in Chinese culture but they’re an important food source. Two main styles of gourds that are popular in Chinese summer cooking are the mild white gourd and stronger tasting bitter gourd. Both gourds add flavors and textures to soups, salads, stir fried and other dishes. Good by themselves, gourd dishes are even more scrumptious when supplemented by an appropriate wine partner.
The accommodating white gourds pair well with many wines but the bitter gourd narrows the field significantly. What varietal or style of wine works well with both popular styles of gourds? My solution is a grape that has a decidedly Dr Jekyell and Mr Hyde personality.
The father of the Pinot family is the noble French red variety Pinot Noir, while the Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc are genetic mutation descendants. Genetically they are so closely related that only a single gene mutation of the outer skin differentiates the Pinot relatives. The ancestral home of the Pinot family is believed to be Burgundy where the earliest records of Pinot Noir being cultivated date back to AD 100. Pinot Gris as a distinct variety first appeared in Burgundy during the 13th century. By the 14 century the Pinot Gris was also well established in nearby French, Swiss, German and Italian regions.
Pinot Gris thrived in Burgundy, Champagne and neighboring regions as a favored single variety and blending grape. It is interesting to note that during the 18th century the variety comprised approximately 20 percent of Domaine Romanee Conti red wines.
Everything changed after the virulent Phylloxera outbreak in the late 18th century. The Pinot Gris vines in Burgundy and Champagne did not take well to hybrid grafting to the pest resistant American rootstock. Because of this and the general finicky nature of Pinot Gris, in Burgundy and other important regions the variety was gradually phased out and replanted with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines. However not all was gloom and doom for this variety, in the cooler climates of Alsace the hybrids reacted better and this French region became the new home of Pinot Gris. The variety also survived then approximately a century later thrived in the cooler Alpine climates of Northern Italy.
After these historical insights, allow me to explain my Dr Jekyell and Mr Hyde analogy. On one hand the Pinot Gris variety as cultivated in Alsace makes serious, rich and age-worthy wines while its alter ego Pinot Grigio from Italy manifests itself in exceedingly friendly and approachable wines. The grape may be the same but the wines they make are astonishingly different. This split personality helps make the variety one of the most misunderstood in the wine world. In my opinion, the staid Pinot Gris and affable Pinot Grigio wines both make for excellent partners to Chinese summer gourd dishes, albeit in different ways. The rich, perfumed, low acidity and oily qualities of Alsatian Pinot Gris wines go remarkably well with the bitter gourds while the fresh and fruity characteristics of Pinto Grigio wines are lovely with white gourd dishes.
Alsace unquestionable makes the greatest Pinot Gris wines. It’s the third most planted variety after Riesling and Gewurztraminer and is used to make both dry and sweet wines.
The sweet versions are called Selection de Grains Nobles and are excellent wines of great pedigree but the dry versions are eminently more suitable for bitter gourd dishes. The cool climate and mostly alluvial soils in Alsace result in intense, powerful and concentrated wines with intriguing spicy notes and a weighty, oily texture. In short they are not overwhelmed or compromised by bitter gourd dishes. Super dry Alsatian Pinot Gris wines are made by the producers Domaines Schlumber, Trimbach, Hugel and Martin Schaetzel.
The most popular expression of Pinot Gris comes predominantly from the three northern Italian regions of Trentino, Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia Giulia where the grape is called Pinot Grigio. While wildly popular with consumers in the US, UK, Germany and at home in Italy, it’s a style of wine that some wine experts love to hate. In general, Italian Pinot Grigio wines are light, crisp and refreshing often with distinct citrus notes. Some of the most interesting Pinot Grigio wines I’ve tasted recently are from Trentino DOC but they are hard to find in Shanghai. One fine producer to look for is Mezzacorona. Alto Adige producers with fine Pinot Grigio wines include Colterenzio, Elena Walch and Alois Lageder, while good Friuli producers include Pighin, Livio Felluga and Marco Felluga.
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