Pinot Grigio at the event horizon

During the conference presenting the Pinot Grigio International Challenge, held about a month ago in Corno di Rosazzo, Friuli, a reoccurring theme in many of the interventions was whether this wine risked becoming a ‘commodity’. This because it is being made far from its traditional areas of production at a much lower cost and, as a result, sold for prices of between one and two euros a bottle. And all this has taken place because over time, and above all on the American and British markets, Pinot Grigio has become identified as being a simple, rather neutral white wine with unoffending aromas that can be consumed without contemplation, by the glass and at a very reasonable price. It is virtually impossible to change its position and image on the market today because the typical and often excellent Pinot Grigio wines from Collio, Colli Orientali del Friuli, Trentino and Alto Adige are facing competition from high-yield vineyards on the Veneto plains and in Sicily. And what is worse is that wines are being produced from this grape even outside Italy, in places like Romania, Argentina and Mexico where the cost of land and labor are even lower and the wine can be produced at rock-bottom prices. Should this happen, the wine will indeed become a commodity and risk being drawn to the event horizon after which it will be slowly sucked into a Black Hole and disappear into nothingness.

What can be done to avoid this? Unfortunately, not what was done to save Prosecco, which thanks to a masterstroke became a ‘territorial’ wine that involved rediscovering the Glera grape in the town of Prosecco itself, near Trieste. If I’m not mistaken there is no town or village in northeast Italy called Pinot Grigio so the same method cannot be employed. European Union regulations protect a wine’s origin but not the name of the grape and Pinot Grigio before being a wine is a variety of grape. Thus something else must be invented that does not directly relate to the grape even if this is where its origin is. Complicating matters even further is the fact that in throughout Italy there are 18-20,000 hectares of vineyards planted with this grape. One idea could be to create a type of rosé from Pinot Grigio called ‘Ramato’ (copper), a name that could be added to many DOC and IGT wines in northeast Italy, the way Cerasuolo is for Abruzzo or Chiaretto for the Garda area. There are also wines that made with Montepulciano or Corvina and Rondinella grapes that do not have the name of the variety as part of the wine’s name. Another possibility is to adopt the wine’s French name Pinot Gris, or the German ones Rulander or Grauburgunder and use them in place of or next to the name Pinot Grigio where this is allowed. What is important is to avoid falling into the Black Hole at all costs and as soon as possible.