What do you think of when I say 105 degree average heat daily, Cactus, Sagebrush & Tumbleweeds? If you are thinking of death by heat stroke, Lizards running through Ghost Towns than guys, I totally understand (if I didn't already live in the Desert) where you are coming and would agree. What would you say if I told you that in the 105 degree heat among those Sagebrush, Tumbleweeds, Cactus and Lizards there is also wine as well as wine grapes? The area that I am talking about is the small town of Pahrump Nevada which is located around 45 minutes to a hour North of Las Vegas. I have done reviews of the winery's in Pahrump in the past with these reviews presenting mixed results as far as the quality of wine they make. Today I am back for another review of one of the wines made in Pahrump, this time at the Pahrump Valley Winery (
http://www.pahrumpwinery.com/) in particular. Today's wine up for review is the 2015 Charleston Peak Pinot Grigio and comes in at 12.5% Alcohol. To begin with I'll be the first to admit that I do not know much about this particular varietal so let's do a little discovering and learning.
The varietal is known as Pinot Grigio in America and also when it is on the sharper and more acidic or dry side or Pinot (Pine Cone) Gris (Gray) which is usually reserved for the Pinot Grigio wines that are more on the fruitier and less acidic side side such as French submissions. Pinot Grigio is the second most popular white wine in America. By the way, although there are some people who tend to think that this varietal originated in the country of Italy, the reality is that the varietal actually originated in France. The varietal when referred to as Pinot Grigio is also know for having a characteristic of a type of "oily" note on the Palette and a note that I tasted in this wine as well. This note is from what is known as Malolactic Fermentation (MLF) and produces Malic Acid and is in all actuality produced by winemakers adding a special bacteria known as Oenococcusoeni that eats sharp acid and "poops (yeah I know) out smooth acids. Basically Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris are the same varietal only they go through a different process and taste different. The grapes for this varietal are red (blue-gray hue) but the grapes can also sometimes have a Brownish Pink to Black or even White appearance, the actual color of the wine however is White due to the makers of the wine not using the grape skins in the wine making process. The varietal also is believed to be a mutation of the Pinot Noir grape as Pinot Grigio has an almost identical DNA to Pinoit Noir which is where the theory of it being a mutation derives from. The grape is normally grown best in cooler climates which makes the successful growing of these grapes in the Desert of Southern Nevada a true challenge to say the least. The flavors of the varietal range from the ripe tropical fruit of melon and Mango to Botrytis (a necrotrophic fungus ) influenced notes. So, now that we have described for you a little about the wines characteristics, how does this wine grown in the Desert hold up to these standards? O.K so now that we know a little (lot) about the varietal, let's go
ahead and move on to this particular interpretation of the varietal.
I first want to start with this wines appearance in my glass which in this case is on the very light Golden side. Beginning here, I have to say that the wine actually looks brilliant as the Las Vegas sun reflected off of it in my glass. Continuing now onto the Palette of this wine. Initially upon tasting this wine it came across as being on the slightly sweeter side and I thought that here is another wine grown in a hot climate that is obviously influenced heavily by that heat. Very quickly the sweeter notes disappeared and brought out notes of melon and spice which I found surprising for some reason. A wonderfully balanced acidity also showed itself that was not over powering was also presented to my Palette and I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it. Pear and Honey Dew were presented as well and also with the identical ripeness and in proportion to one another as well. The hint of acidity by the way was detected only on the finish and was not harsh at all in on mouth. the sweetness that i tasted was not overpowering in any way so do not let that scare you off from this wine. this particular note was more of a fresh fruit note
Folks, let me go ahead and wrap this wine up for you. As you can probably tell by reading the characteristics of the varietal in my opening paragraphs, this wine I believe truly lived up to the standards of it's varietal. This wine in actuality fell in the range of Pinot Gris and lived up to the varietal standard rather nicely. Guys, I really enjoyed this wine and am very comfortable in giving it 90 points on The desert Wine Guy rating scale.
The Desert Wine Guy
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