There’s a pinot gris for every nuance of Asian cuisine

‘one of the Mornington Peninsula’s best pinot gris producers, Paul Scorpo, has just released a very different new expression of the variety – wild-fermented on skins, barrel-aged – that he reckons would go well with a rustic Italian lentil soup.

Called Bestia, the beautiful copper-coloured wine (reviewed below) was inspired both by memories of his father’s winemaking at home in the shed in Coburg and by his daughter’s glowing reviews of amber-coloured skin-contact pinot grigio she’d tried on a trip to Italy five years ago. It’s a bloody marvellous wine – one of the best examples of the fashionable style yet made in Australia – and will help cement the Mornington Peninsula as this country’s home of pinot gris.’

2015 Scorpo Estate Bestia Pinot Grigio Tradizionale (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria)

As the name suggests, fully ripe pinot gris/grigio grapes are a dusky purple grey in colour, so if you ferment the juice with the skins (as you would a red variety), you can end up, as here, with a wonderful copper-hued wine.  This has an entrancing perfume of hedgerow flowers and berries, with a gorgeous, rich texture on the lounge.  Think of it as a full bodied dry rose. And try it with lentil soup. $45

Read full Financial Review article: here