Whether you need an afternoon porch pounder on a hot August day or an elegant wine to complement your Thanksgiving turkey, Pinot Gris is your answer. Pinot Gris—or Pinot Grigio if you prefer the Italian name—is the cousin of Pinot Noir. Just as Noir means "dark," gris means "grey," reflecting the milky blue-grey color of the grapes. It's arguably the most versatile white wine in the world, loved for its ease of drinking, sharp acidity, and dry finish. If you're visiting tasting rooms in Oregon, you'll encounter Pinot Gris almost as often as Pinot Noir as it's become the state's calling card for white wine.
Pinot Gris grows fantastically in Oregon. It was first planted here in the 1960s at Eyrie Vineyards, likely the first plot of the varietal in the United States. What started as a small experimental lot has exploded into one of Oregon's signature wines. You'll find Pinot Gris thriving across Oregon's wine regions, from the Willamette Valley to the warmer southern reaches of the Umpqua and Rogue Valleys, and even in the Columbia Gorge. While it adapts well to different climates, it performs best in Oregon's cooler regions where the longer growing season preserves its signature bright acidity and crisp minerality. The Willamette Valley remains the heartland for Oregon Pinot Gris, producing wines that strike a beautiful balance between fruit-forward approachability and food-friendly structure.
Today, Pinot Gris accounts for over one-sixth of all Oregon wine production and is the state's second most-planted grape, trailing only Pinot Noir. The harvest season typically runs from late September through early October, about two to three weeks after California's warmer regions bring theirs in. This extended hang time on the vine is crucial and allows the grapes to develop more complex flavors while maintaining that mouthwatering acidity that makes Oregon's version stand out from the lighter, more neutral Italian-style Pinot Grigio.
Oregon Pinot Gris has earned serious recognition over the past decade. King Estate, one of Oregon's largest Pinot Gris producers, has helped put Oregon white wine on the map nationally, while smaller producers like Eyrie Vineyards continue to make critically acclaimed versions that showcase the grape's potential for elegance and age-worthiness. In blind tastings, Oregon Pinot Gris regularly outperforms mass-market Italian Pinot Grigio and holds its own against French Pinot Gris from Alsace. Wine critics have taken notice—Oregon Pinot Gris now regularly appears in "best of" lists and has developed a cult following among sommeliers who appreciate its food-pairing versatility and exceptional quality-to-price ratio.
What makes Oregon Pinot Gris so famous isn't just that it grows well here, it's that Oregon winemakers have figured out how to make it sing. They've taken a grape that's often treated as an afterthought elsewhere and turned it into something worth seeking out. The best Oregon Pinot Gris tastes like fresh pear, white peach, and citrus zest, with a mineral backbone that keeps it interesting from the first sip to the last. It's the kind of wine that works equally well at a backyard barbecue or a white-tablecloth dinner, and that rare combination of approachability and sophistication is exactly what Oregon does best. If you're exploring Oregon wine country and only think of tasting Pinot Noir, you're missing half the story.
