A to Z Pinot Gris

*Bottle #4: A to Z 2006 Oregon Pinot Gris

*Price: $13

*Running Tab: $54

I'm not going to lie, I bought this because the name rhymed and I'm a thoroughly amused nine-year-old. A to Z Pinot Gris - how fun is that! Plus, it was a screw-top and I'm lazy and irritable when it comes to breaking off corks with my rusted corkscrew.

Now, the drum roll please... My first review on a white wine! Keep your pants on, I'm pretty excited too. Surprisingly, I really do like white wines - they're crisp and fresh like Sprite! My new zeal toward white wines comes from knowing they probably have as much sugar as soda but I achieve a much finer buzz from the bottle of fermented grape juice.

Starting with a pinot gris was my idea to ease my drinking partner for the week into the world of whites. I figured the basic and distinguishable sweet fruits would welcome her, considering she's a dessert fiend. 

Gung-ho and in it for the long run, I opened my screw-top bottle of A to Z, poured out the glazed and flaxen toned wine only to sense a smell in my glass I've been able to identify maybe twice. Wet newspapers... This bottle smelt as if it were corked but there was no cork! My partner couldn't tell the difference.

1 out of 12 bottles of wine are corked - spoiled by oxygen or bacteria that came in with a shoddy cork. Kind of discouraged me from buying a case of any one wine... I'm still at a loss for how this scent was pulled off without a cork in this bottle.

Despite the nose dive (pun intended) that stunk up my initial impression of the wine, I decided to give it a try anyway. A sommelier from the Glen Fiona Winery told me to never judge a wine on the first sip if your palate isn't spot-free because you're picking up on whatever was last in your mouth. My assumption was that this may also apply to the bouquet of the wine.

Good thing I listened to that guy because the wine was much better in my mouth. I found pronounced characters of honey, apples and pears with a resounding sweet pineapple finish that lingered pleasantly after I swallowed. Yummy. 

The nasty aroma for the cork-less, seemingly-corked bottle of wine almost threw me but I was able to hold on for the ride while it smoothed out.

Score: 7.