Originally published on July 21, 2008.
Cheap and cheerful Pinot Grigio – it’s one of those bread and butter items that every neighborhood store has to have. And I have been having a devil of a time keeping one on the shelf. My usual $10 – $11 bottle was out of stock at the distributor. It’s now back in stock, but before I could get more than a case or two, the distributor shut down. For two weeks. During a heat wave. Another week to go before they open and there’s no more cheap and cheerful Pinot Grigio on my shelf and the weather is still pushing 90+ degrees.
Sure, I have the Livio Felluga Pinot Grigio, which is a fabulous wine, but at more then $20/bottle, it’s not what most people want when they come in looking for a Pinot Grigio. I also have a nice Godello from Spain – Valdesil Montenovo. To my palate, it’s more interesting than Pinot Grigio, but still has that crispness, slight citrus edge and general neutralness that most people want in their Pinot Grigio. (In wine-speak, ‘neutral’ means ‘doesn’t taste like much’ or ‘alcoholic water’ or, to take a phrase from my Polaner rep Linus, ‘refreshingly inconsequential’ which frankly, is what most people look for in a Pinot Grigio.) And while the Godello can stand in for Pinot Grigio in a pinch, at $13, it’s still a couple dollars more than most people want to pay for their ‘refreshingly inconsequential’ beverage – and most damningly, it doesn’t say “PINOT GRIGIO.”
As luck would have it, one of my sales reps happened to have a sample handy of a nice little Pinot Grigio that fit my cheap and cheerful requirements. I like to try everything I sell, even those wines that fall into the cheap and cheerful category (in the Frankly Wines case, that’s $9.99, or $10.83 with tax). I especially like to try those wines. I think if people see that you take as much care selecting your lowest priced wines as you do with your higher priced wines, they’ll have more confidence in your entire selection.
So I tried the wine and it definitely fit the bill – . It’s not life-changing wine, and if you don’t already like Pinot Grigio, it won’t make you a fan (try the Livio Felluga for that). But it tastes crisp, clean, with a hint of citrus, clearly says Pinot Grigio on the bottle, and will sit happily on the shelf at $9.99. Actually, given the heatwave, it probably won’t do much sitting.
Unfortunately, i don’t remember the name of it, but that’s not really the point.