pinot gris vs. pinot blanc

[Innkeeper]

They are different grapes, as different from each other as they are from their cousin pinot noir. Pinot blanc is one dimensional sort of like chardonnay. Like chardonnay that one dimension can be quite good under certain growing or wine making conditions. More often it has to be jazzed up with oak, malolactic fermentation, or other gimmicks to give it more dimensions. Pinot gris, aka pinot grigio, though a "white" grape is more like pinot noir in that it has multi dimensions. It is sometimes compared to riesling for the same reason. You can take three Italian Pinot Grigios from three different regions, and they can be quite different. Same thing when you compare that from Alsace with your ones from Oregon. Now Roberto has found a motherload of Argentine Pinot Gris that is something else again.