Monday 31 May 2010

The Problem with Pinot Grigio UK


Pinot Grigio found in the UK could almost be the perfect drink: it's plainer than water, it's nearly the same colour and it's not much more in price than a good bottle of sparkling... water. After running out of wine at a party last night, we picked up two bottles for only £5 from our corner convenience shop. It wasn't the only Pinot Grigio we could choose from, either: there was a strange arpeggiato of bottles from nearly every wine producing country. From lemon tart to renal failure in colour, each of them Pinot Grigio in a simple chord, back and forth across the entire wall. All under a fiver.

Decanter reports the proportion of UK wine drinkers buying Pinot Grigio increased by 30% over past 3 years. Why? The style hasn't changed; but, the promotions have become better. It's a style that is stuck at 1am in the morning when you are desperate for wine in a convenience shop to satisfy the thirsty bedraggled you wish had gone home hours ago and, you can bet your hidden bottle of 1977 Port, end up sleeping on your sofa. Vile, yes, but somebody who needs a bottle of something in a hurry after midnight has been waiting for this much choice of Pinot Grigio all their life.


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