“Click-click” goes the screw-cap, “ploop-ploop” goes the wine–and we are dipping into a chilled bottle of Pinot Grigio. This midday treat is the latest one to be opened out of a case of budget Italian wines from WSJ Wine. The producer is one Alessandro Gallici, the same Northern Italian winemaker responsible for the “Visionario” Bianco Trevenezie that I previously reviewed here.
This 100% Pinot Grigio from Friuli is pale gold in the glass. (There’s a little bit of wet-dog reductivity that thankfully blows off right away.) Yellow apple, white florals, and a bunch of melon and tropical fruit on the nose. Musky Crenshaw canteloupe, lemon cream, hay, and golden pineapple. Crisp (medium-plus) acidity resolves into a barely perceptible touch of apple-y sweetness.
This easy, breezy, Pinot Grig-y doesn’t quite transcend the juice-box simplicity of its genre. But you know what? Sometimes that’s just fine.
In Italian, Capisco means “I understand.” Once again, the clever folks at WSJ Wine have settled on an apt name for their pop-n-pour bottles of joy.
I understand that mass-market Pinot Grigio isn’t known for its intensity or nuance. And yet I totally get why it sells like crazy. I appreciate that many people (including me, at times) just want to drink a light, fruity white that won’t stain your teeth, get you pass-out drunk at 1 PM, clash with your menu, or break the bank.
Would I seek this out specifically? Probably not. Would I bring it to a cookout, or offer it as a dry white wine option at a casual dinner? All day long.
I don’t always have wine with lunch–but today was a wine-with-lunch kind of day.
I served the Capisco Pinot Grigio with a sheet-pan meal of turmeric/ginger/garlic marinated chicken legs over crispy rice with scallions. It was rather lovely–the rich chicken skin and toasty rice got along well with the wine’s mild fruit and refreshing acidity.
This recipe from New York Times Cooking works great with a few modifications. I chose to spray the sheet pan for easier clean-up, flip the drumsticks once during cooking to brown both sides, and skip the olive oil drizzle (the chicken skin renders out plenty of fat to crisp up the rice).
Bottle: Capisco Pinot Grigio (2023)
Variety: Pinot Grigio (100%)
ABV: 12%
Suggested retail: $14.99
My rating: 7.9 (out of 10)
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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