Wine Review - 2010 Montalto Pinot Grigio: Tasting Review Request Granted

One of our amazing followers requested we give this one a try and so this evening we enjoyed a bottle of the Montalto Pinot Grigio from Sicily with some Greek food (those poor beleagured Greeks).

This wine is $11.79 for a 750 ml bottle but an amazing $17.89 for 1.5 L. That my friends, is what we might call a good deal. They also have a Nero d’Avola (a main Sicilian grape) in the same price range which is intriguing as well.

The wine itself has a little more golden colour to it than we might expect for a Pinot Grigio. It is not Aussie Chardonnay golden but it is absolutely darker than a Sauvignon Blanc. Having not drunk a ton of Pinot Grigio (or Pinot Gris) we were not sure of the tendencies in this grape.  We thought it might have spent some time in oak but the interwebs tell us different and they use the term straw coloured as a descriptor. We’ll buy into that.

The nose has some citrusy notes, with what we could best describe as dried apricots (not fresh – dried) and a maybe a honeycomb in there. Very nice nose overall, though it smells a little drier than it tastes.

The flavours of dried apricot and lemon with a touch of honey continue on the palate.  These are mostly in balance though a little more acidity would be nice to offset a little of the sweetness.  It is a little crisp but not overly so.  Make no mistake this is not a sweet wine, more of an off-dry in our minds (closer to say a 2.0).

Overall, it is a very nice drinking wine and absolutely would be great with seafood and went well with the Greek food. At $17.89 for a litre and a half, it is a no brainer to say this is an everyday wine but it could stand up to some really robust seafood dishes as a dinner party wine. Fun wine and a fantastic value that begs for a patio somewhere….just not right here, right now (stupid Winter). Now that Nero d’Avola is intriguing.....

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Slight golden hue but considered to be straw coloured.	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Lemons, limes, honeysuckle, dried apricots.  Nice fragrent nose.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	Slightly off-dry with more dried apricots and citrus.  Tasty wine that can go well with a variety of foods.	8.0
	Total:	16.0 / 20  (80.0)

Thanks for the reminder on this one Tannis.

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon