Could the Pinot family become the UK's still-wine speciality? The photo above is, after all of Pinot vines in Wales, no less…
It was tasting an outstanding Oastbrook Pinot Gris and a Stopham Pinot Blanc last year that really got me thinking that maybe English still wine didn't need to be all about nettled Bacchus and Geisenheim hybrids. It was already obvious that English Chardonnay was showing surprising promise, but in the Pinot varieties, I caught a glimpse of something special – something that I hadn't seen in the Chardonnays.
Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris, has its twin-root homeland duality in northern...