Flip Flop Pinot Grigio

I’ll be honest.  I went into this review a little biased.   Having already reviewed a few of their wines, including their 2009 cabernet sauvignon and 2009 pinot noir, I’m somewhat familiar with the story behind this winery.  They’re relatively new on the block, and still cutting their stylistic teeth on their first few vintages.  And while working with power reds like pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon offers some margin of error, pinot grigio does not.

But I’m here to report that this wine pleasantly surprised me.  Pinot grigio is not a complex wine, and examples from Napa can come across even more muted than more genuine, Italian versions.   But this wine offered vibrancy, along with complex fruit that one rarely sees in this varietal.

On the nose, the wine is a bit vegetal, with hints of grass and celery.  But it also serves up a soft lychee-like fruit that is pleasant and somewhat exotic.  Overall, the nose is far more potent than I would have expected, and quite inticing, too.  However, it doesn’t offer the same level of crispness that Italian versions would normally offer.

On the palate the acidity in the wine takes time to show, but once it does, the wine offers up a slightly sweet and vibrant style, if only slightly off-balance.  The winemaker’s notes tout tropical citrus, but I failed to pick up any tropical fruit.  There is plenty of sour apple and a touch of sweet lime as well.  Still, the wine offers more complexity than I’ve found in other pinot grigios at even twice the price.

This style will appeal to most lighter-bodied, white wine drinkers, but I expect that most pinot grigio purists won’t find this wine appealing.   If your tastes appeal to more exotic sauvignon blancs, but you’re looking for an even better value, the Flip Flop 2010 deserves a try.

A  Salute!

Wine: Flip Flop
Variety: Pinot Grigio
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 85
Price: $7.00

Find Flip Flop 2010 Pinot Grigio with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.