PINOT BLANC WINES
The main and significant characteristic of wines made from Pinot Blanc (and Auxerrois) is a certain sweetness of flavor because the acidity is relatively low. Made with the Pinot Blanc grape (also known as Weissburgunder in German), Pinot Biancos from northeast Italy are extremely elegant and offer a tantalizing combination of creamy and crisp, dry and mineral-driven.
When compared to Italy’s most popular white, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco generally has more finesse and is more delicately scented, typically offering apple, pear and hints of white flower. Even though Pinot Bianco and Pinot Grigio from this corner of Italy have lively acidity, Pinot Bianco boasts an alluring, creamy texture almost never found in Pinot Grigio.
In Germany Pinot Blanc is known as Weissburgunder, the vine’s influence in Germany has been increasing. Austria is perhaps the country which values Weissburgunder the highest – particularly around the shallow Neusiedlersee where grapes can ripen to exceptional ripeness and botrytis is almost an annual occurrence. The variety is also grown in Styria where Alois Gross makes an attractively crisp example in Kittenberg and in Lower Austria as well as by some in the vineyards around Vienna. The Austrians also treat their ripest Weissburgunder, often blended with other grape varieties, particularly Chardonnay, to oak aging. Some of Burgenland’s finest Weissburgunders are made around the little town of Gols by the likes of Matthias Beck, Gernot Heinrich and Matthias Leitner. Fine Austrian Weissburgunder can age particularly well.
On export markets the name Pinot Bianco hardly has the cachet of Pinot Grigio but in Collio and Isonzo, Pinot Bianco marketed by the border with Slovenia where it can also produce similarly dazzling wines, it seems particularly at home. Here the grape’s natural body and breadth of flavor combines well with the lively growth that results from the climate and super-clean wine making methods and the wines are much in demand from Italians seeking interesting whites, both oaked and unoaked, from the likes of Mauro Drius, Felluga, Jermann and Schioppetto.
Perhaps the most ambitious Pinot Blanc in the world of wine is made by the intense Sebastiano Castiglioni of Querciabella in Chianti. This estate’s Batàr is modelled on Bâtard Montrachet, no less, and is made from a blend of Pinot Bianco and Chardonnay.
In Slovenia, Croatia and Vojvodina, Pinot Blanc is quite widely grown, as Beli Pinot, and is sometimes treated to barrels, particularly in Slovenia which copies the Friuli habit of blending several grape varieties together in some of its best white wines.
A smattering of Pinot Blanc is grown all over the New World. Some best is grown in British Columbia in western Canada where the naturally high acidity and well-delineated fruit flavors suit this sometimes rather amorphous variety.
The quality bar is higher across the board with Pinot Bianco, which is made in limited quantities compared to Pinot Grigio. Even though producers make several distinct styles of wine, from vibrant and linear to medium-bodied with complexity, Pinot Bianco usually guarantees a decent to high-quality wine. That’s reflected in its generally higher price tag in comparison to cheap, cheerful Pinot Grigio.
The quality bar is higher across the board with Pinot Bianco, which is made in limited quantities compared to Pinot Grigio. Even though producers make several distinct styles of wine, from vibrant and linear to medium-bodied with complexity, Pinot Bianco usually guarantees a decent to high-quality wine. That’s reflected in its generally higher price tag in comparison to cheap, cheerful Pinot Grigio.
Pinot Bianco needs very specific growing conditions to excel, including high hillside vineyards, generally above 450 meters (1,476 feet), where the combination of altitude and fresh breezes generate cool temperatures during the growing season. When compared to Pinot Grigio, for example, Pinot Bianco fares better when it’s exposed to less direct sun and heat. Pinot Bianco also needs complex soils, mainly limestone with some clay. Choosing the best sites has been crucial for improving Pinot Bianco.
Food Pairing and Pinot Blanc
A wine like Pinot Blanc is best suited to foods with more subtle flavoring. It will match up well with light fish, soft cheeses, and salads.
Salads, cold meats and tarte flambée
Pasta in white sauce
Roasted chicken and Turkey
Fried chicken
Fresh fruit salads particularly with tropical fruits
Smoked cheese
Asian stir fries and noodles
Sushi
Shellfish and Fish Caviar
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Please review some of the fine Pinot Blanc wines below for your next order or go to our main site for a complete selection of all wine and spirits available from around the world.
Trimbach Pinot Blanc 2016, Pinot Blanc from Alsace, France
Eyrie Pinot Blanc 2016, Pinot Blanc from Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Kettmeir Pinot Bianco 2017, Pinot Blanc from Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy
Koehler-Ruprecht Weisser Burgunder Kabinett Trocken 2017, Pinot Blanc from Pfalz, Germany
Chalone Estate Pinot Blanc 2014, Pinot Blanc from Chalone, Monterey, Central Coast, California
Selbach Oster Pinot Blanc 2016, Pinot Blanc from Mosel, Germany
Villa Russiz Pinot Bianco 2015, Pinot Blanc from Collio Goriziano, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
Dopff & Irion Pinot Blanc 2018, Pinot Blanc from Alsace, France
Wittmann 100 Hills Pinot Blanc 2017, Pinot Blanc from Rheinhessen, Germany
Nals Margreid Sirmian Pinot Bianco 2017, Pinot Blanc from Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy
