Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio wines are made from the same grape; the first name is used in France and the second in Italy. Since Navarro specializes in Alsatian varieties we usually make a Pinot Gris in name and style but in 2006 we made both. Most of Navarro's Pinot Gris is produced from estate grown grapes but we do purchase additional fruit from three other family-run vineyards. We supplemented our own grapes because from 2001 through 2005 the yields on this temperamental variety kept diminishing in every vineyard block. We knew Anderson Valley Pinot Gris made exceptional wine but we wondered if it could ever be profitable with such miserly yields. In 2006 however, unlike the prior four vintages, every grower and every field of Pinot Gris had a bountiful crop and our casks were overflowing. After blending up our usual
Anderson Valley Pinot Gris, we still had a matching amount in cask. We even had extra wine leftover from two of the best lots! We normally sell off excess wine to other wineries but these lots were just delicious and the ripe fruit flavors reminded us of Pinot Grigio from Collio.
The layout of Navarro's hillside Middle Ridge vineyard looks like the boot of Italy kicking a soccer ball. 
How appropriate that Pinot Grigio is planted in the upper half, the same location as Collio. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Pinot Gris fell into disfavor in Champagne and Burgundy because of its inability to produce a reliable crop. It appears we have a similar problem in Anderson Valley today.
