19 May It’s an Oregon pinot gris weekend. 3 pinot gris picks!
The ten day forecast calls for…chilled white wine.
Continuing our homage to Oregon wine month, we’re recommending not one, not two, but three Oregon pinot gris as we head into a warm weekend and even warmer following week.
True confessions: pinot gris is a tough one for me. It’s not my go-to varietal.
But I’m in the minority. Oregonians (and apparently everyone else) love it. Re: production and consumption, it’s Oregon’s #2 wine, well behind pinot noir but well ahead of third-ranked chardonnay.
When you think/drink pinot gris, the term “fruity” comes to mind.
Our three recommendations cover the entire “fruitiness” spectrum.
The fruitiest, i.e., “sweetest” of them all is Underwood. Pop the flip tab on one of these cans and you’re at the produce stand. Strong apple and pear flavors. The colder, the better for this wine. Underwood pinot gris also comes in a bottle but since we’ll all be heading outside in this nice weather to shake off the rust, wine-in-a-can will be extremely convenient. Camping wine. Ultimate frisbee wine. You get the picture.
One note: an Underwood can = 1/2 normal wine bottle. Thus, two cans equals one bottle.
For less sweetness/residual sugar and more minerality, we move to King Estate 2015 Willamette Valley.
King Estate is recognized as one of the most consistent pinot gris producers in the land. They know what they’re doing and their 2015 Willamette Valley reflects that: a crowd-pleasing down-the-middle blend of fruit & acid.
My personal favorite of these three is Elk Cove’s 2015 Willamette Valley. While its backbone is that characteristic pinot gris fruitiness, the Elk Cove is tart, acidic, lemony, and for my money, more complex than the Underwood or King Estate.
All three of these wines are easy to find. We’ll break it down, wine by wine, store by store.
As of May 19, we found:
UNDERWOOD CANS
Eastside
| Safeway | Rose City | $5.99 | Safeway | Hawthorne | $5.99 | ||||
| Whole Foods | Hollywood Sandy Blvd. | $5.99 | New Seasons | Hollywood | $5.99 | ||||
| QFC | 56th & Burnside | $5.99 | QFC | Irvington NE 33rd | $6.99 | ||||
| Fred Meyer | Hollywood | $5.79 | Fred Meyer | Hawthorne | $5.79 | ||||
| Westside | |||||||||
| Safeway | NW Lovejoy | $5.99 | New Seasons | NW Raleigh | $5.99 | ||||
| Fred Meyer | Stadium | $5.79 | QFC | Barnes & Miller | $5.99 | ||||
| Fred Meyer | Walker Road | $5.79 | Fred Meyer | Beaverton | $5.79 | ||||
| Fred Meyer | Raleigh Hills | $5.79 | New Seasons | Raleigh Hills | $5.99 | ||||
| Safeway | Cornell Rd. | $5.99 | Zupan’s | Burnside | $8.75 |
| South | |||||||||
| Fred Meyer | SW Barbur | $5.79 | Safeway | SW Barbur | $5.99 | ||||
| Fred Meyer | Tualatin | $5.79 | Safeway | Lake Oswego | $5.99 | ||||
| New Seasons | Lake Oswego | $5.99 | |||||||
| KING ESTATE | |||||||||
| Eastside |
| Safeway | Rose City | $14.43 | Safeway | Hawthorne | $14.43 | ||||
| Whole Foods | Hollywood Sandy Blvd. | $17.99 | New Seasons | Hollywood | $18.99 | ||||
| QFC | 56th & Burnside | $15.99 | QFC | Irvington | $15.99 | ||||
| Fred Meyer | Hollywood | $14.99 | Trader Joe’s | Hollywood | $14.49 | ||||
| Fred Meyer | Hawthorne | $14.99 | Costco | near PDX NE 138th | $14.39 | ||||
| Westside | |||||||||
| Safeway | NW Lovejoy | $14,43 | New Seasons | NW Raleigh | $18.99 | ||||
| Fred Meyer | Stadium | $14.99 | Trader Joe’s | NW Glisan | $14.49 | ||||
| Bale’s Thriftway | Cornell Rd. | $17.99 | Safeway | Cornell Rd. | $14.43 |
Market of Choice Cedar Mill $17.99 Fred Meyer Beaverton $14.99
Fred Meyer Walker Road $14.99 Fred Meyer Raleigh Hills $14.99
QFC Barnes & Miller $15.99 Safeway Cornell Rd. $14.43
Trader Joe’s Beaverton $14.49
South
Fred Meyer SW Barbur $14.99 Safeway SW Barbur $14.43
Fred Meyer Tualatin $14.99 Safeway Lake Oswego $14.43
Costco Tigard $14.39 Trader Joe’s Lake Oswego $14.49
Elk Cove
Eastside
Safeway Rose City $15.39 QFC Burnside & 56th $16.99
QFC Irvington $16.99 Whole Foods Hollywood $18.99
New Seasons Hollywood $17.99 Fred Meyer Hollywood $16.49
Safeway Hawthorne $15.39 Fred Meyer Hawthorne $16.49
Westside
Safeway NW Lovejoy $15.39 New Seasons NW Raleigh $16.99
Trader Joe’s NW Glisan $14.99 Fred Meyer Stadium $16.49
Zupan’s Burnside $19.97 QFC Barnes & Miller $16.99
Safeway Cornell Rd. $15.39 Bale’s Thriftway Cornell Rd. $16.99
Fred Meyer Walker Rd. $16.49 Fred Meyer Beaverton $16.49
Fred Meyer Raleigh Hills $16.49 Trader Joe’s Beaverton $14.99
New Seasons Raleigh Hills $16.99
South
Fred Meyer SW Barbur $16.49 Safeway SW Barbur $15.39
Fred Meyer Tualatin $16.49 Safeway Lake Oswego $15.39
New Seasons Lake Oswego $16.99