King Estate Artisan Series Pinot Gris 2024

"To be entirely candid, I’ve lost a lot of enthusiasm for this variety over the years after many disappointments with renditions from Italy, Alsace, California, New Zealand, and–yes–Oregon, where it was touted as a rising start as far back as the 1990s. Back then, King Estate was an extremely well-funded champion of the variety, building a very impressive winery largely devoted to the grape and buying vast quantities of what was grown in vineyards owned by others across the state. Well, with that confession off my chest and that background provided, let me say that this bottling is flat-out delicious. Unusually expressive aromatically, it exudes fresh but ripe fruit scents that are so primary that they resemble the sensation of being in a winery during crush season. The flavors follow suit, with notes of juicy orchard fruits predominating but energized by acidity that seems more citrus-like than peach-like. Finally, the wines sensory signals are all very well-measured and harmonious, resulting in a wine that is clean, convincing, and highly inviting as a stand-alone sipper or a partner for lighter seafood preparations."