Usana Luck of the Gambler Pinot Gris 2018
“It’s like riding a dolphin bareback across the savannah with Oscar Wilde.”
HANSCORE: 20/25
The name itself is a complete red/white/grey/pink herring. Pinot Gris translates to “grey pine cone”. Which, considering that the grapes are no way related to pine trees, are certainly not grey, can be technically classified as white, and are undeniably pink in the most conventional sense of the word…well, I mean…yeah…exactly.
If you want to get all Miriam-Webster, the “pine cone” part can be traced to the fact that Pinot Gris bunches have a distinct conical shape (the same is true for its cousins; Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc), and the “Gris” is simply explained by the fact that the French can be binary about a lot of things, and this little firecracker doesn’t fit anywhere into their worldview.
👃🏼 The nose is more explosive than a late night convo about vaccines. Waves of flowers of all varieties, cherry sherbert, musk sweets, white pepper and stone fruit are unstoppable. It can be overwhelming for the uninitiated…
That said, this Pinot Gris is more than up to the task of performing said initiation.
👄 The palate is equally beguiling; fresh and breezy, while also grippy and a little rambunctuous. Like riding a dolphin bareback across the savannah with Oscar Wilde. It carries everything from ruby grapefruit, to pithy red plum skins, to bright red cherry and exquisitely juicy pomegranate. Also, the gregarious white pepper that popped so on the vanguard is equally winning on the tail.
🔬 Fruit from Klein Welmoed farm in Stellenbosch. Grapes were naturally fermented and left on their skins for 12 days. Matured for a further 10 months in a combination of old French oak and a concrete egg.
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