Flexing my wine selection rules once again as my shopping opportunities were limited and the alphabet thing is only really there to keep me looking for something to try. Anything, really.
I remember, with some shame, how back in 2012 when the man who had been recruited to fill permanently the job in which I been acting on a temporary basis for the preceding year suggested we should select the house Pinot Grigio, as we first found ourselves entertaining the team for whom responsibility was being transferred, and I felt this showed he was going to be a 'lowest common denominator' type of boss, and that this would somehow enhance my legacy. I was partly right.
I have since come to appreciate that not all Pinot Grigio is non-descript white plonk, so:
Week I (2021) The Society's Pinot Grigio 2018. The Wine Society £8.50
Pinot Grigio is also known as Pinot Gris in some parts of the world and I do remember tasting St Clair Pioneer Block Pinot Gris, from New Zealand, and being astounded by how rich and tropical it was. That wine, and others I have tasted from Alsace, is probably an unfair benchmark for the grape generally, but for the price this one puts up a good show.
The Wine Society is of course a long-standing and reliable co-operative society that exists to provide its members with good quality wines from right across the price ranges. Their 'own brand' range of 'The Society's....' wines are made exclusively for the society by established producers. In this case, the Pinot Grigio, the producer is Alpha Zeta who are based in the hills around Verona in North-Eastern Italy. Alpha Zeta have been making wines since the end of the 20th Century, having been created by a New Zealand winemaker, Matt Thomson.
This one is very pleasant. A only £8.50 a bottle it represents great value and is a good example of why prejudice about any grape variety is a stupid thing. It is more than moderately intense in its flavours, which include both citrus and floral tones, both of them remaining on the palate for a pleasing amount of time. It is quite dry but not in a sharp way and feels quite full possibly because of the 13% abv.
This bottle accompanied a game of Scrabble, the fourth in succession I have lost to The One, which itself preceded a lunch of an excellent white onion soup that made a comfortable partner to the wine. It was finished off with a peanut and cheese cracker collation in front of episode 2 of Bloodlands. It fitted the bill very nicely over its three outings.
I once stayed in the hotel used in Bloodlands as the kidnap location where a man with a certain past was held. A remarkable place which had also been used as the location for Hotel Splendide, a film with reviews as diverse as 'Oddball, Quirky Good Fun' to 'I have never before truly HATED a movie, but this cycnical nightmare......etc'. Guinness can be delivered quite slowly all throughout the island of Ireland, but this place probably holds some kind of record. Watch the film and if you are ever near Newcastle pop in for a pint and a long wait.
Oh, would I buy again? Yes.
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