If you’re willing, wine can be full of surprises. That is, just when you think you’ve got, say, a particular variety figured out, a wine comes along that blows away your preconceived notions. That was exactly the case for me with this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday assignment, Friuli-Venezia Guila Whites.

I have long had a thing for Italy’s red wines but honestly have done very little exploration of its whites. So when I learned that WBW 41 was focused on Italy’s most prolific white wine region, I was hopeful that I would find yet another reason to love Italian wine. However, on a trip to one of my go-to Italian wine merchants, Fosco’s Italian Market, I was somewhat concerned when the recommendation was a Pinot Grigio over the expected local variety Tocai Friulano.

“Pinot Grigio?”, I asked dejectedly as I took a closer look at the bottle. I wanted something complex, something layered, something profound. When was the last time you had a profound Pinot Grigio?

“You won’t be disappointed”, I was reassured.

I bought the wine.

Lis Neris is a 4th generation family run winery located in the village of San Lorenzo, between the Slovenian border and the Isonzo River. The estate’s nearly 100 acres of vines are planted on a plateau of calcareous gravel that was washed down over centuries by melting ice and snow from the nearby Eastern Alps.

The current patriarch of Lis Neris, Alvaro Pecorari, took over control of the winery in the 1990’s and introduced modern viticulture and winemaking practices, significantly improving quality and consistency.

The 2004 Lis Neris “Gris” ($28 USD) is 100% Pinot Grigio. Harvested by hand and fermented in large French oak barrels, the wine was aged in barrels, on lees, for 10 months.

Tasting Note

Once I poured a glass of the “Gris” I knew right away that this was not going to be an ordinary Pinot Grigio. Instead of the typical colorless and watery-thin New World PG’s, this wine was golden straw in color and just had the look of something with a lot to offer. It was all that time in French oak, I surmised.

The nose exuded layers of flowers, green apples, lemon zest, and a touch of marjoram yet still had a cloak of steely minerality. The mouthfeel was full and velvet-soft but still managed a tinge of acidity. An absolutely delicious wine that brings a lot to the table.

We paired this wine with a Frico Friulano (potato & cheese tart with grilled balsamic onions and peperoncini on a bed of arugula) and a Florentine Pork Roast (herb-crusted roasted pork studded with garlic and rosemary). The acidity in the wine matched beautifully with the cheese in the tart and the tanginess of the balsamic onions and peppers. Although the pork roast was pleasant, both the wine and frico muscled the delicate flavors of the roast off of center stage.

Contemplating the Lis Neris Gris was truly a revelation for me. How could a variety such as Pinot Grigio that is seemingly locked into a reputation as a light-fare quaffer exhibit such fullness and complexity? Certainly the New World is not doing this noble grape justice. For me this wine represents the realization that with any variety, in the right location, grown under the right conditions, and in the right hands… greatness is possible.