Wines made from Pinot gris grapes of Sachsen
Discover the best wines made with Pinot gris as a single variety or as a blend of Sachsen.
Pinot Gris is a grey grape variety mutated from Pinot Noir. It has its origins in Burgundy, where it is called pinot-beurot in reference to the colour of the grey robes worn by the monks of the region. Established in Alsace since the 17th century, pinot gris was called tokay until 2007. It is made up of bunches of small berries that vary in colour from pink to blue-grey. It is particularly well suited to the continental climate because it is resistant to the cold in winter and to spring frosts. This variety also likes dry limestone soils with plenty of sunshine in the summer. Pinot Gris is well suited to late harvesting or to the selection of noble grapes, depending on the year and the concentration of sugars in the berries. Pinot Gris wines are distinguished by their aromatic complexity of white fruits, mushrooms, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, etc., and their great finesse. In the Loire Valley, pinot gris is used in the Coteaux-d'Ancenis appellations. It gives dry or sweet wines with pear and peach aromas.
Sachsen (Saxony) in eastern Germany is one of the world's Northernmost wine regions, located at a latitude of 51 degrees north. The roughly 493 hectares (1,218ac) of vines in the region are planted aLong a 25 mile (40km) stretch of the Elbe river valley, from Pillnitz near the city of Dresden, in a north-easterly direction to Diesbar-Seusslitz, just downstream of the city of Meissen. Despite its northerly location, Sachsen has a long history of viticulture, with the earliest documents of wine-growing around Meissen dating to 1161. Since Germany's reunification in 1990, great enthusiasm has gone into building and developing the Sachsen wine industry; there are many part-time growers and an enthusiastic local market.