Navarro Vineyards

Pinot Gris is a difficult variety to make into wine because the skins of the grapes have more tannins than many other white varieties. The “gris” translates from the French to gray and refers to the nearly brown-pinkish color of the skins, indicating the higher-than-usual level of potential tannin in the wine. Most quality winemakers avoid getting too much tannin in their Pinot Gris by careful vineyard and winery handling, but that still leaves a wine that has potentially more “oomph” in how it develops.

Navarro has been making one of California’s most impressive Pinot Gris for more than a decade, and this version, from one of the cooler vintages of the last two decades, is a slow-maturing beauty. The aroma is floral and spiced pear with a hint of white pepper, and the texture is richer than you might imagine for so perfect an acid level.

The crispness of the wine really shows handsomely with food, where the faint tannins left in the wine by winemaker Jim Klein simply add a bit of grip to the finish, making this a white wine that complements salmon brilliantly.

Navarro, one of California’s most perfect wineries, has a track record of nicely aging wines, including a number of the whites, and the 1995 Pinot Gris, which few people chose to age, has recently shown itself to be a fine example of why this is a grape that has a lot more potential than simply as an early sipping wine.

Reviewed March 23, 2007 by Dan Berger.