Don't Give This Pinot Grigio the Fish Eye

I like to think I'm not a wine snob, but I have to admit that I do look askance at 1.5ml bottles and 3li boxes of wine. And I don't buy much wine in that kind of large format size, either. I assume that its mass-produced, and not in a good way, with chemical aromas and uninspiring flavors.

So when the folks from Fish Eye poured their Pinot Grigio at the Wine Bloggers Conference a few weeks back I gave it the fish eye. I wasn't alone (names withheld to protect the guilty). But we all dutifully took a sip of the wine. Then it was true confessions time.

"This is really good," I muttered, sending out a quick tasting note on my phone.

"Wow. I didn't expect much from this but its really a nice Pinot Grigio," someone else agreed.

Everyone at the table was similarly keen on the wine--and similarly sheepish about their initial skepticism.

We were even more impressed when we discovered that the price for 750ml was around $7, and the price for the 1.5li was around $12. And they may be even less in your market.

This is not profound Pinot Grigio, but it is superbly drinkable Pinot Grigio with fresh lemon and apple aromas and flavors--and none of that horrible, acidic bitterness that made me swear off the stuff a few years back when it became everyone's favorite wine-by-the-glass selection. Excellent QPR for a quaffable wine that has the proper varietal characteristics and an appealing price sticker.

Get yourself a mess of shrimp and some cocktail sauce, toss a salad, buy the big bottle or box of Fish Eye Pinot Grigio and invite your neighbors over for dinner. It will be a perfect end-of-summer meal.