Oz Wine Facts – Pinot Grigio

Pinot Grigio (or Pinot Gris) is a white grape variety considered to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety. Its colour can be anything from grayish blue and brownish pink, to even black or white. The grapes are usually small & pine cone shaped, which is probably why they were given the name 'Pinot'.

While most people wrongly believe that the Pinot Gris grape was born in Italy, its true place of origin is France. Introduced in Australia in 1832, Pinot Grigio has now gained a cult following amongst Aussie wine lovers. The following statistics outline the growth, production and export of Pinot Grigio in Australia in the year 2017:

Viticulture

In 2017, a total of 135,133 hectares of grapes were planted across Australia. Of this, approximately 3,731 hectares were planted with the Pinot Gris variety. This makes up for 3% of the total Australian land planted with various different grapevines.

Grape Production

A whopping 1,929,630 tonnes of grapes were harvested & crushed in Australian wineries in 2017. Out of this, 75,288 tonnes amounted to the crushing of Pinot Grigio grapes. This is equivalent to 4% of the total grape varieties harvested and crushed all over Australia.

The Aussie wine regions that secured the top spot in Pinot Grigio grape production in 2017 were Murray Darling-Swan Hill (41%), Riverina (27%), King Valley (5%), and Adelaide Hills & Riverland (4% each).

Export Data

In 2017, about 36,148,000 litres of Australian Pinot Gris wine was exported to wine stores locally as well as globally, making up 4% of the total export value of 811,001,000 litres of Aussie wine.

The 4 topmost importers of the refreshing Australian Pinot Grigio wine varietals & blends include – USA (79%), Canada (7%), Ireland (5%), and the United Kingdom (4%).

Feeling thirsty? Go try out a zesty & delightful Pinot Grigio right away!