The Cellar: The Other White Pinot

Email to a friend Permalink

Monday, May 18, 2015

Steffen Rasch, GoLocalWorcester Wine Writer

Most of you are familiar with the white grape variety Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio, as the Italian examples are more commonly labeled. But did you know that the Pinot family is home to yet another white variety? Pinot Blanc (or Pinot Bianco if you’re referring to an Italian example) is arguably the least known of the commercially available white Pinot varieties. This is unfortunate as this variety makes some absolutely delicious wines ranging in style from crisp and clean to rich an oaky. Pinot Blanc is a resilient variety and as mentioned very versatile. It can produce still, sparkling as well as sweet dessert-style wines. 

Pinot Blanc is primarily grown in France’s Alsace region where it has its spiritual home and where it has been vinified for hundreds of years. The grape is also grown in Germany and Austria where it is called ‘Weissburgunder’ – which literally translates into ‘white Burgundy.' Whereas the French examples are usually medium to full-bodied (and often matured in oak) the Italian style is kept in stainless, so it is lean and crisp. Finally, Pinot Blanc is also one of the primary varieties in many of the world’s best sparkling wines, most noticeably France’s Cremants d’Alsace and Lombardy’s Franciacorta – Italy’s answer to France’s Champagne. 

This week’s first featured wine is the 2013 Pinot Bianco from Kettmeir. The almost 100 year old Kettmier winery is located near the town of Bolzano in Italy’s northern Alto Adige region. This is a cool place, literally. This high-altitude, mountainous area near the border with Austria is ideal for producing crisp white and sparkling wines and that is exactly what the folks at Kettmeir specializes in. Their ’13 Pinot Bianco was fermented in stainless steel tanks and left to mature on the lees (dead yeast cells) for a while before bottling. The result is a crisp and delicious wine – with very expressive notes of peach, apricot and citrus - perfect for easy sipping by the pool. 

This week’s other Pinot Blanc is a typical Alsatian example – meaning there is a lot more inside the wine than just Pinot Blanc. In Alsace wines labeled ‘Pinot Blanc’ are allowed to have as much Pinot Auxerrois (another white Pinot related grape variety) in it as the winemaker wants, as well as other Pinot varieties. In other words, the 2013 Pinot Blanc from Meyer-Fonne is more like a white Pinot blend with Pinot Auxerrois, Pinot Blanc and of course Pinot Gris – there is even some un-macerated Pinot Noir juice in this wine. This wine is aged in large traditional neutral wood foudres for 7 months which allows the wine to come together and oxidize but doesn’t really impart a lot of oak flavors. This is a much richer wine than the Kettmeir with yellow apples, apricot and honey – absolutely stunning. 

Cheers,

Steffen Rasch is a Certified Sommelier and Specialist of Wine. Feel free to email him at [email protected] with any wine-related questions or learn about wine in person by signing up for one of his tastings through the Providence Wine Academy. The next tasting is Sunday, May 31st during which participants will be exploring the grape varieties Pinot Gris, Gamay and Merlot.

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink