Graffigna Pinot Grigio Review

Many bottles pass through the offices of Food Republic for review, and we usually spare you the gory details of our taste tests. We're not wine snobs by any means; we're just looking for something suitable to sip.

Pinot Grigio tends to fall by the wayside here. It's typically drinkable especially when cold but we always seem to be looking for more gusto from the glass. Too often we find this white pouring from large format bottles with gimmicky labels that leave us less than impressed. It's also become the go-to glass for drunk girls in bars across the nation, again leaving us leery of its character. However, with this grape surpassing Chardonnay as most popular white wine in the glass we thought we'd give it another go.

Lucky for us an attractive bottle of Graffigna* arrived in timely measure. We gravitated to this bottle because even its stature was impressive, tall and lean with a simple black insignia. Plus it's from Argentina, a place that continues to unearth wine steals that we love. So off to the fridge it went for chilling.

At first glance it looks like water, with a tinge of green and a hint of straw color. As the cold wine frosted the glass it looked more promising. The nose is clean, nothing weird or particularly stellar there either. But then we drank some. It's vibrant, light-bodied and has soft acidity. If you want to understand what we mean by soft acidity, taste this side-by-side a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. That wine will have bracing acidity and you'll see why we say this one is softer. Your mouth still waters but without feeling like you got your teeth kicked in. It lightly tickles your tongue. It's super juicy, fresh, light and just right for happy hour tonight. Thanks Graffigna for showing us that Pinot Grigio doesn't need to be consumed by the gallon and that indeed it can be enjoyed by the glass.

*The suggested retail price is $13 for a standard 750ml bottle.