Why is pinot gris, one of our three favourite white wines, so popular? Chardonnay impresses with its substantial body and subtle, dry, complex flavours, often enriched by handling in oak barrels. Sauvignon blanc leaps out of the glass with its fresh, zesty, herbaceous aromas and flavours.
Pinot gris offers smooth, easy drinking. Often sturdy, other times medium-bodied, it usually has moderate acidity, vague sweetness, and attractive, but not pungent, peach, pear and spice flavours. If you are looking for a wine that “slips down easily”, pinot gris is hard to beat.
Black Cottage Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★½
Grown in the Wairau Valley, this attractively scented, medium-bodied wine has gentle, lively pear, lychee and spice flavours, a sliver of sweetness, crisp acidity and lots of youthful charm. (12% alc/vol) $18
Blackenbrook Nelson Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★½
Estate-grown and hand-harvested, this mouthfilling, vibrantly fruity wine has strong ripe stonefruit and spice flavours showing a distinct touch of complexity and a dryish, very harmonious finish. (13.5% alc/vol) $23
Brancott Estate East Coast Pinot Gris 2023
★★★½
Priced sharply, this is a fresh, lively, medium-bodied wine. Balanced for easy drinking, it has peachy, gently spicy flavours showing good depth and gentle sweetness balanced by crisp acidity. (12.5% alc/vol) $13
Catalina Sounds Marlborough Pinot Gris 2022
★★★★½
This highly attractive wine was mostly estate-grown in the Sound of White vineyard, in the upper Waihopai Valley, with some use of barrel fermentation. Full-bodied, it has generous peach, pear and spice flavours showing a distinct touch of complexity, fresh acidity and a basically dry, very harmonious, lingering finish. (13% alc/vol) $30
Church Road New Zealand Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
This consistently impressive, weighty, Alsace-style wine is typically grown in Pernod Ricard NZ’s relatively cool, elevated, inland site at Matapiro, in Hawke’s Bay. However, the latest vintage is not labelled by region, which presumably reflects the cyclone-hit growing season in the North Island. Invitingly scented, fresh and mouthfilling, it has generous, peachy, spicy flavours, hints of pears and ginger, a sliver of sweetness and finely balanced acidity. Delicious in its youth, it’s a top buy. (14% alc/vol) $18
Dancing Petrel Paewhenua Island Northland Pinot Gris 2022
★★★★
Grown at Paewhenua Island in the Far North, this hand-harvested wine was tank-fermented. It is mouthfilling, with very good depth of ripe stonefruit flavours, gentle spicy notes and a sliver of sweetness balanced by fresh acidity. (13.8% alc/vol) $23
Durvillea Marlborough Pinot Gris 2022
★★★★
Bargain-priced, this is an ideal, all-purpose wine. Mouthfilling and lively, with vigorous peach, pear and spice flavours, it shows very good delicacy and freshness, with a dry, lingering finish. (From Astrolabe.) (13% alc/vol) $18
The Elder Martinborough Pinot Gris 2022
★★★★★
This distinctive wine was estate-grown and hand-harvested at Te Muna. Fragrant, fleshy, mouthfilling and rich, it has concentrated, peachy, slightly spicy and biscuity flavours showing excellent delicacy and complexity, and a finely textured, dry, very harmonious finish. Delicious now, it’s also well worth cellaring. (13.5% alc/vol) $125
Flaxmore Moutere Nelson Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★½
Drinking well in its youth, but also worth cellaring, this characterful wine was estate-grown and hand-picked at Upper Moutere. Handled in tanks, it was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Pale lemon/green, it is fresh and full-bodied, with good intensity of peachy, citrusy flavours, lively acidity and a finely balanced, basically dry, smooth finish. (13% alc/vol) $26
Georges Road Selection Waipara Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★★
Full of personality, this estate-grown, hand-harvested wine was fermented with indigenous (“wild”) yeasts in seasoned oak barrels. Weighty 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 has excellent depth, delicacy and poise. (13.5% alc/vol) $30
Greystone Waipara Valley North Canterbury Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★★
Full of youthful drive, this wine was mostly tank-fermented (4% was 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 should be at its best 2025+. Certified organic. (13% alc/vol) $32
Greywacke Marlborough Pinot Gris 2022
★★★★★
A wine to ponder over. Powerful and fleshy, it was grown at Renwick in the Wairau Valley, hand-picked, mostly fermented in old French oak barriques and then aged in old barrels for a further six months. Bright, light yellow/green, it has lush stonefruit flavours, an unobtrusive splash of sweetness and finely balanced acidity. Already delicious, with notable complexity and richness, it should be at its best 2025+. (14.4% alc/vol) $31
Hãhã Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2023
★★★½
Enjoyable in its youth, this freshly scented, medium- to full-bodied wine has good depth of lively, peachy, gently spicy flavours, hints of pears and lychees and an off-dry finish. Priced right. (13% alc/vol) $18
Hawkshead Central Otago Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★★
This delicious wine was grown at Gibbston and Pisa, tank-fermented and matured for four months on its yeast lees. It is fresh, mouthfilling and vibrantly fruity, with a strong surge of peach, pear and spice flavours, finely poised, dry and persistent. Already drinking well, it should be at its best 2025+. (13% alc/vol) $36
Invivo Marlborough Pinot Gris 2022
★★★★
Offering fine value, this freshly scented, medium-bodied wine has strong peach and pear flavours, gentle spicy notes, very good delicacy and vibrancy and an off-dry finish. (12.5% alc/vol) $19
Loveblock Marlborough Pinot Gris 2022
★★★★½
Certified organic, this easy-drinking wine was estate-grown in the lower Awatere Valley and handled with some use of oak casks and concrete, egg-shaped tanks. Light lemon/green, with a fragrant, gently spicy bouquet, it is mouthfilling and sweet-fruited, with vibrant peach, pear and spice flavours showing very good complexity, a vague hint of sweetness and plenty of flavour and personality. (13% alc/vol) $23
Luna Estate Martinborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★½
This characterful wine was estate-grown in the Blue Rock Vineyard and fermented in tanks and seasoned oak barrels. Light yellow/green, it is mouthfilling and finely balanced, with strong ripe-peach, pear and spice flavours showing a distinct touch of complexity, fresh acidity and an off-dry, lingering finish. (13% alc/vol) $32
Main Divide North Canterbury Pinot Gris 2021
★★★★
From Pegasus Bay, this is a consistently good buy. Aiming for a “classic Alsatian style with a North Canterbury twist”, it was tank-fermented and briefly aged on its yeast lees. Full-bodied with a slightly honeyed bouquet, it has strong, peachy, gently spicy flavours, a splash of sweetness and fresh, balanced acidity. (13.5% alc/vol) $22
Mills Reef Reserve Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2022
★★★★
Quite open and expressive in its youth, this single-vineyard wine was grown at Maraekakaho. Pale yellow, it is medium- to full-bodied, with good concentration of fresh, ripe stonefruit flavours, gentle spicy notes, balanced acidity and a basically dry finish. (12.5% alc/vol) $22
Misha’s Vineyard Dress Circle Central Otago Pinot Gris 2021
★★★★★
Fleshy and richly perfumed, this classy, estate-grown, hand-picked Bendigo wine was partly fermented with indigenous yeasts in old French oak hogsheads. A basically dry style, it is weighty and vividly varietal, with fresh, balanced acidity and deep, vibrant stonefruit, pear, lychee and spice flavours, showing excellent intensity, delicacy and harmony. (14% alc/vol) $32
Mission The Gaia Project Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
Still very youthful, this light lemon/green wine was grown in the Awatere Valley. Full-bodied and fleshy, it has strong, ripe peach, pear and spice flavours threaded with fresh acidity and an off-dry finish. (13.5% alc/vol) $22
Mount Brown Estates North Canterbury Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
Offering good value, this invitingly scented wine is mouthfilling and vibrantly fruity, with strong, ripe, peachy, slightly spicy and gingery flavours, a gentle splash of sweetness and a well-rounded finish. It’s already drinking well. (14% alc/vol) $17
Opawa Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★½
Grown in the Wairau and Awatere Valleys, this is a good, all-purpose wine. Tank-fermented and briefly lees-aged, it is scented, mouthfilling and vibrantly fruity, with good intensity of peach, pear and spice flavours, balanced acidity and a finely balanced, dryish, lingering finish. Already delicious. (13.5% alc/vol) $22
Paddy Borthwick Wairarapa Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
Estate-grown at Gladstone, this youthful Wairarapa wine was fermented in tanks (mostly) and oak casks and matured on its yeast lees for nine months. Medium- to full-bodied, it has fresh, vigorous peach, pear and spice flavours showing good depth and complexity and a basically dry, crisp finish. Best drinking mid-2024+. (12.5% alc/vol) $23
Riverby Estate Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
Estate-grown in the Wairau Valley and handled in tanks, this is a mouthfilling wine, with fresh peach and pear flavours showing very good depth and a smooth, gently spicy, finely balanced, dry finish. Best drinking mid-2024+. (13% alc/vol) $22
Saint Clair Pioneer Block 5 Bulls Block Marlborough Pinot Gris 2022
★★★★½
Instantly appealing, this pale Omaka Valley wine is floral and lively. It has a very good concentration of delicate peach and pear flavours, hints of ginger and spices and a crisp, slightly sweet finish. (12.5% alc/vol) $27
Seresin Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★½
Certified organic, this estate-grown wine was mostly handled in stainless steel tanks but 40% was lees-aged for four months in seasoned French oak barriques. Mouthfilling, savoury and harmonious, it has generous ripe stonefruit and spice flavours, balanced acidity and a dry finish. It’s already drinking well. (13% alc/vol) $26
Starborough Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★½
Offering good value, this regional blend is mouthfilling, fresh and lively, with strong, peachy, gently spicy flavours, slightly gingery notes, vague sweetness and very good harmony. It’s drinking well from the start. (13.5% alc/vol) $22
Te Kano Otago Pinot Gris 2022
★★★★½
This floral, youthful wine was hand-harvested in Central Otago and the Waitaki Valley, North Otago. Tank-fermented and lees-aged, it is mouthfilling and vigorous, with very good depth of fresh peach, pear and spice flavours, slightly savoury notes adding complexity, balanced acidity and a very harmonious, dryish, lingering finish. Best drinking 2025+. (13.5% alc/vol) $32
te Pā Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
A good all-purpose wine. Fresh and lively, it is mouthfilling, with vibrant pear, lychee and spice flavours showing very good depth, balanced acidity and a dry finish. Full of youthful vigour, it should be at its best mid-2024+. (13.5% alc/vol) $20
Terra Sancta Lola’s Block Barrel Fermented Bannockburn Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★★
This distinctive wine was fermented and matured in oak casks. Bright, light lemon/green, it is mouthfilling and vibrant, with concentrated peach, pear and spice flavours enriched by a subtle seasoning of nutty oak, and a finely balanced, dry finish. Full of youthful drive, it’s well worth cellaring to 2025+. (13% alc/vol) $30
Tiki Single Vineyard North Canterbury Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
This Waipara wine is still unfolding. Medium- to full-bodied, it has fresh, generous, peachy, slightly spicy flavours, a sliver of sweetness and balanced acidity. Youthful and very harmonious, it should break into full stride 2025+. (12.5% alc/vol) $23
Two Rivers Phoenix Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★½
Offering top value, this blend of Awatere Valley (60%) and Wairau Valley (40%) grapes was mostly tank-fermented. It is mouthfilling and fleshy, with fresh, generous stonefruit flavours, lees-ageing complexity, fractional sweetness and a finely textured, very harmonious finish. Open and expressive, it’s already drinking well. (13.5% alc/vol) $22
Villa Maria Reserve Marlborough Pinot Gris 2021
★★★★★
Highly fragrant, this estate- grown Awatere Valley wine was fermented in stainless steel tanks (80%) and seasoned oak barriques (20%). Full-bodied, rich and rounded, it has concentrated, ripe peach and pear flavours, gentle acidity and an off-dry, very harmonious finish. Fine value. (14% alc/vol) $20-$25
Whitehaven Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
This youthful wine was grown in the Wairau and Awatere valleys. Full-bodied, it is vigorous, with very good depth and delicacy of peach, pear, lychee and spice flavours, dry and lingering. Best drinking 2025+. (13.5% alc/vol) $25
Wild Earth Central Otago Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★★
Grown at Bendigo (60%) and Bannockburn (40%), this impressive wine was fermented in old oak barrels. Invitingly scented and mouthfilling, it has concentrated, ripe, stonefruit flavours showing real complexity, a slightly oily texture, and a very harmonious, lingering, dry finish. Well worth cellaring. (14% alc/vol) $30
Zephyr Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
★★★★
Offering very easy drinking, this single-vineyard wine was grown in the lower Wairau Valley. Mouthfilling and vibrantly fruity, it is strongly varietal, with generous peach, pear, lychee and spice flavours, slightly gingery notes and a basically dry, smooth finish. (13% alc/vol) $24
