The Wine Institute

Pinot Grigio is a white wine grape that most often yields a soft, low acidic wine that may be slightly aromatic. Pinot Grigio is the Italian synonym for the grape also commonly known as Pinot Gris, a noble variety that has origins in Alsace, France. In America, the synonyms, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris, are both fairly prevalent. Pinot is old French for pine and is possibly a reference to the cluster’s somewhat pinecone-like shape. Gris means grey in French, and refers to the fruit’s sometime blue-grey color, though the fruit as well as the wine it makes can vary in color. The wine ranges from light yellow to rosé and even to a copper color, while the skins of the grape usually resemble a grey-blue to pinkish-brown but can also be darker. Pinot Grigio is known to be a deviation of the Pinot Noir grape, and leaves of the two varietals are quite similar. Historically, they have grown side by side in the same vineyard.

The popularity of Pinot Grigio has risen in recent years. The acreage in California was reported at 2,692 in the year 2000 and has more than quadrupled in less than a decade to 12,907 acres in 2010 according to the most recent California Grape Acreage Report.

The variety does best in cooler climates but can be grown in other climates yielding varying results as to the style of wine it produces. The acreage is largest in San Joaquin County with 4,172, representing over one-fourth of the state’s 12,907 acres. San Joaquin along with Monterey, Sacramento and Yolo counties are responsible for more than half of the state’s total. Today Pinot Grigio is spreading into nearly all the state’s major wine growing counties.

Top 10 California Counties for Pinot Grigio Acreage, 2010

Source: California Agricultural Statistics Service.

California Pinot Grigio Acreage

Source: California Agricultural Statistics Service.