Case Price $192; $16/bottle on orders of 12 bottles or more

Let’s face it. There is an ocean of innocuous Pinot Grigio grown in northern Italy. As soon as someone got the memo that we Americans would like it, they filled the flatlands of the Veneto and the lower part of Trentino with it; the deep, fertile soils allowed for mechanical farming yielding enormous crops of grapes that produce tons of perfectly sound wine to be sent off to restaurants and wine shops at really good prices. Poor Pinot Grigio, though! It never deserved this horrible fate. It’s a grape that, when cropped low and tended with loving care, can produce a wine of great character, a lovely rainbow of flavors, a unique, slightly coppery gris di gris tint and great natural acidity and staying power.

Check out Adige Valley, for instance. It is here, on these steep slopes tended to by the meticulous farmers who produce the highest percentage of DOC-quality whites in Italy, where the grape can wriggle free of its bland reputation and really show its stuff! Castelfeder, for example, makes one of the best we know, and do it at pretty much the same price as those far-less-scintillating wines from further south. Made by the third generation of the Giovanett family in their cellars in Mezzolombardo at the southern part of the valley, PG gets serious treatment here, with three separate cuvées with various degrees of gravitas.

We just love the Mont Mès Pinot Grigio, the freshest and loveliest. This is the PG we all want, the bottle we want to open while deciding what wine to open next: Something to enjoy all on its own while chopping veggies for dinner, hanging around in the backyard with the neighbors or just contemplating life. Bright, fresh, full of personality and easy on the pocketbook, discover Castelfeder Pinot Grigio for yourself. Get a case!