Up until recently, you would very rarely catch me drinking Pinot Gris for enjoyment. There are a few local versions that I appreciate and think are well made, but for my palate, it typically doesn’t have a flavour profile I particularly adore. In addition to the taste, perhaps my image is exacerbated by many of the over-cropped, under-ripened and watery Italian Grigios which dilute our market at sometimes ridiculous prices (see Santa Margherita).

A couple months back I first tried Marc Tempé’s ’04 Pinot Gris Zellenberg and realized that Alsatian Pinot Gris was definitely something I could get behind. In typical Alsatian style with huge richness and great intensity.

The other night, a friend brought over a bottle of Pfaffenheim ’01 Tokay Pinot Gris – Grand Cru Steinert which he had purchased from a wine shop where it was intermingled with the ’04 vintage at the same price. Steinert is one of the controversial 51 Grand Crus of the far eastern French region of Alsace, located just 13 km south of Colmar on the edge of the village Pfaffenheim.

The intensity was staggering with huge aromatics that continued to evolve in the glass – the 8 years of age was definitely doing the wine favours. Remarkably coconuty at first with a nose of freshly baked macaroons and spiced poached pears. The palate is a full bodied (15%!) and viscous marriage of honey and unprocessed apple juice. An astounding wine at $34. I realize that Pfaffenheim is a larger cooperative (albeit a good one), and as such, I look forward to tasting more Gris from smaller scale iconic producers like Jean-Michel Deiss and Zind-Humbrecht. All it took was this one bottle to get me excited about Pinot Gris… try it for yourself and see what happens, although unfortunately it likely wont have the extra 3 years of age this bottle had. Available at BCLDB, Firefly, and Everything Wine (currently out of stock).