Pinot gris plantings in New Zealand began to soar 25 years ago, at the right time to pick up that era’s ABC (anything but chardonnay) consumers, who rebelled against the overtly oaky, buttery chardonnays that were then common. Today, pinot gris is our third most widely planted white wine grape, behind sauvignon blanc and – guess what? – the latest breed of refined, subtle chardonnays.
What does pinot gris, which has blue-grey, sometimes reddish-pink berries, taste like? The greatest wines possess the attractive scentedness, mouthfilling body, flavour richness and roundness of the benchmark wines from Alsace. Lesser, cheaper wines, often made from heavily cropped vines, are lighter, leaner and crisper, more in the tradition of Italian pinot grigio.
Akarua Central Otago Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★½
Mouthfilling, fresh and lively, this wine was fermented in French oak barriques, sandstone amphorae and stainless steel tanks. It has generous peach, pear and spice flavours, showing considerable complexity, cool-climate vigour and a lengthy finish. $27-$30
Astrolabe Marlborough Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★½
Invitingly scented, this full-bodied, strongly varietal wine is a distinctly Alsace style, with good intensity of fresh pear, apple, lychee and spice flavours, with fractional sweetness and finely balanced acidity. Full of youthful vigour, it should be at its best 2026+. $25-$28
Babich Black Label Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★½
This youthful wine was partly (40%) fermented and lees-aged for five months in barrels. Mouthfilling and vigorous, it has strong, peachy, gently oaked flavours, fresh acidity, and a very finely poised, dry finish. $18-$20
Blackenbrook Nelson Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★½
Estate-grown and hand-picked, this is a weighty, vibrantly fruity wine. Strongly varietal, it has deep, peachy, spicy flavours, hints of pear and lychee, balanced acidity and a dryish finish. Offering fine value, it’s well worth cellaring. (14% alc/vol). $24
Cable Bay Rocky Vineyard Awatere Valley Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★½
From a Waiheke Island-based producer, this characterful wine was estate-grown in Marlborough. Bright, light lemon/green, it is mouthfilling, fresh and smooth, with very generous peachy flavours, hints of pear and spices, a distinct touch of complexity, lively acidity and a dryish finish. It’s drinking well now. $20-$27
Church Road McDonald Series Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★½
Estate-grown inland, at Matapiro, this wine is full of personality. Light gold, it is weighty, with lush stonefruit and spice flavours, a distinct splash of sweetness, honeyed notes adding richness, and loads of drink-young appeal. (14.5% alc/vol) $23-$28
Devil’s Staircase Central Otago Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★
Offering very easy, satisfying drinking, this wine was handled in stainless steel tanks. Bright, light lemon/green, it is fleshy and vibrantly fruity, with strong fresh peach and pear flavours, hints of ginger and spice, crisp acidity and an off-dry finish. (From Rockburn.) $20-$24
Georges Road Selection North Canterbury Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★★
Full of personality, this estate-grown wine was hand-picked and fermented with indigenous (“wild”) yeasts in old barrels. Fleshy and rich, it’s a distinctly Alsace style, with beautifully ripe peach, pear and spice flavours, savoury notes adding complexity, fractional sweetness and gentle acidity. A very harmonious wine, it shows excellent depth, delicacy and poise. $30-$32
Greystone Waipara Valley North Canterbury Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★★
Full of youthful drive, this wine was mostly tank-fermented; 4% was handled in old oak barriques. Richly scented and full-bodied, it has concentrated, ripe stonefruit and spice flavours, fresh acidity, and a finely textured, long, dry finish. Already delicious, it’s certified organic. $32
Hawkshead Central Otago Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★★
This classy wine was mostly grown in the Gibbston sub-region and made with a small proportion of barrel fermentation. Bright, light lemon/green, it is mouthfilling and vigorous, with vibrant peach, pear, lychee and spice flavours showing excellent delicacy and depth. A vividly varietal wine with a distinct touch of complexity and a finely textured, fully dry finish, it should be at its best 2027+. $36
Jules Taylor Marlborough Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★½
Offering fine value, this wine was grown mostly in the Southern Valleys and made with some use of hand picking and barrel fermentation. It is invitingly scented and full-bodied, with generous ripe peach, pear and spice flavours showing a distinct touch of complexity, and a dry, lingering finish. Already delicious. (13.8% alc/vol) $22-$26
Kōparepare Marlborough Pinot Gris 2024
★★★½
This ideal, all-purpose wine helps to fund the inshore fisheries restoration work of LegaSea. Medium-to-full-bodied, it has very good depth of vibrant pear, lychee and spice flavours, fresh acidity, and a basically dry finish. $21
Luna Estate Martinborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★½
Showing strong personality, this mouth-filling, finely balanced wine was estate-grown at the Blue Rock Vineyard and partly barrel fermented. It has strong ripe peach, pear and spice flavours showing a distinct touch of complexity, fresh acidity and an off-dry, lingering finish. $24-$32
Main Divide North Canterbury Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★
From Pegasus Bay, this is a good buy. Aiming for a “classic Alsatian style with a North Canterbury twist”, it has very good weight and depth of vibrant peach, pear and spice flavours, gentle acidity and an off-dry finish. Fresh, energetic and harmonious, it’s delicious young. $22
Man O’ War Exiled Waiheke Island and Ponui Island Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★
This youthful, lively wine was estate-grown on two adjacent islands, Waiheke and Ponui. Fresh and crisp, it is medium bodied with strong ripe stonefruit, pear and spice flavours, a distinct splash of sweetness and firm acid spine. Worth cellaring. (12% alc/vol) $30-$37
Māori Point Central Otago Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★
Fresh and lively, this youthful wine was hand-harvested and fermented in a mix of tanks and seasoned French oak barrels. Medium to full-bodied, it has strong pear, lychee and spice flavours showing a distinct touch of complexity, and a crisp, dryish finish. (12.9% alc/vol) $30
Misha’s Vineyard Dress Circle Central Otago Pinot Gris 2022
★★★★½
Estate-grown and hand picked at Bendigo, this strongly varietal wine was partly (43%) fermented with indigenous yeasts in old French oak hogsheads. Weighty, vibrantly fruity and dry, it has generous ripe, peachy, spicy flavours enriched by a subtle seasoning of oak, fresh acidity and good complexity. (14% alc/vol) $34
Mission The Gaia Project Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
Grown in the Awatere Valley, this is a full-bodied and fleshy wine, with strong ripe peach, pear and spice flavours, threaded with fresh acidity, and an off-dry finish. Good value. $19-$22
Mount Brown Estates North Canterbury Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
This bargain-priced wine is invitingly scented. Mouthfilling and vibrantly fruity, it has strong ripe, peachy, slightly spicy and gingery flavours, a gentle splash of sweetness and a well-rounded finish. (14% alc/vol) $15-$20
Oraterra Martinborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★★
Full of character, this debut vintage was hand picked in the mature McCreanor Vineyard and fermented and aged in a large Austrian oak fuder. Mouthfilling and savoury, it has rich stonefruit and spice flavours, fractional sweetness, a slightly oily texture and excellent weight, complexity and harmony. (14% alc/vol) $36-$45
Paddy Borthwick Wairarapa Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
Estate-grown at Gladstone in the northern Wairarapa, this wine was fermented in stainless steel tanks and seasoned French oak casks. Medium- to full-bodied, it has fresh, vigorous peach, pear and spice flavours showing good depth and complexity, and a basically dry, crisp finish. (12.5% alc/vol) $20-$27
Palliser Estate Martinborough Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★½
Delicious young, this estate-grown wine was partly (10%) fermented in old French oak casks. Bright, light lemon/green, it is mouthfilling and well-rounded, with strong, ripe peach, pear and spice flavours, a hint of ginger, a distinct touch of complexity, and a dryish, harmonious finish. (14% alc/vol) $30
Pencarrow Martinborough Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★
This strongly varietal wine delivers easy drinking. Pale lemon/green, it is weighty and vibrant, with very good depth of fresh peach, pear and spice flavours, fractional sweetness and a smooth, well-rounded finish. (From Palliser Estate.) (14% alc/vol) $17-$24
Riverby Estate Marlborough Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★
This harmonious wine was estate-grown in the Wairau Valley and handled in tanks. An ideal, all-purpose wine, it is full-bodied and fleshy, with vibrant ripe peach, pear and spice flavours, gentle acidity and a basically dry finish. Drink now or cellar. $24
Rockburn Central Otago Pinot Gris 2024
★★★½
Hand-picked at Gibbston, this distinctive wine was partly fermented on its skins and made with some use of barrel ageing. Straw-coloured, it is medium to full bodied, crisp and dry, with vigorous peachy flavours, hints of ginger and spice, a touch of tannin and considerable complexity. (12% alc/vol) $28
Seifried Nelson Pinot Gris 2024
★★★½
This youthful wine was estate-grown at Brightwater. Light lemon/green with a hint of pink, it is mouthfilling, with vibrant fruit flavours of peaches, pears and apples, gentle spicy notes and a crisp, dryish, lingering finish. $18
Seresin Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★½
Currently drinking well, this estate-grown, organically certified wine was partly (40%) barrel fermented. Mouthfilling, it is savoury and harmonious, with generous ripe stonefruit and spice flavours, balanced acidity and a dry finish. $26
Thornbury Waipara Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★
Offering very easy drinking, this attractively scented wine was grown in North Canterbury, tank fermented and lees aged. Fleshy with a sliver of sweetness and balanced acidity, it has generous pear, peach and spice flavours, and is fresh and smooth. Fine value. $14
Tohu Awatere Valley Marlborough Pinot Gris 2024
★★★★
Highly appealing in its youth, this is a good buy. A full-bodied, strongly varietal wine, it is vibrantly fruity, with good depth of peach, pear, lychee and spice flavours enlivened with fresh, balanced acidity, and a basically dry, harmonious finish. $19
Unison Bumble Bee Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2024
This good, all-purpose white wine is a “pinot grigio” style in terms of its weight and dryness. Medium bodied, it is vibrantly fruity, with fresh, ripe peach, lychee, pear and spice flavours showing good delicacy and depth, balanced acidity and a fully dry finish. (12.8% alc/vol) $26
Valli The Real McCoy Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★★
Full of personality, this is a “skin ferment orange wine”. Grown at Gibbston in Central Otago, it was fermented on its skins for 28 days, matured for nearly a year in five-year-old oak barrels, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Orange hued, it is mouthfilling, with deep peach, apricot and spice flavours, complex and savoury, a moderate tannin grip on the palate and a long, dry finish. A thought-provoking wine, it’s well worth discovering. $40
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★½
Grown in the Awatere Valley and made with some use of barrel fermentation, this fresh, medium-bodied wine has good depth of peachy, slightly spicy and gingery flavours, a sliver of sweetness and appetising acidity. (12.5% alc/vol) $17-$20
Whitehaven Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
Grown in the Wairau and Awatere Valleys, this full-bodied, vigorous wine has very good depth of peach, pear, lychee and spice flavours. It’s delicate, dry and lingering. $25
Wild Earth Central Otago Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★★
This attractively scented wine was grown in Bendigo (60%) and Bannockburn (40%). Fermented in old barrels, it is weighty and vibrant, with concentrated ripe stonefruit flavours showing impressive complexity, a slightly oily texture and a harmonious, lingering, dry finish. Classy. (14% alc/vol) $30 l
Note: all wines are 13-13.5% alc/vol, unless stated otherwise.