Producer: McManis Family Vineyards
Wine: Pinot Grigio
Vintage: 2004
Country: USA
Appellation: San Joaquin Valley, California
Wine Type: White
Primary Varietal: 100% Pinot
Grade: B
Designation: Cheap and Good
Price: $15

McManis Family Vineyards, founded in 1990, is located near the cool confluence of the San Joaquin and Stanislaus Rivers, now known as the River Junction, just south of Lodi in northern California. According to the winery’s web site, the McManis family has been growing grapes in the area since 1938, but it wasn’t until 1990 that Ron and Jamie McManis grew the company, now operating more than 1,200 acres of wine grapes.

After their 1997 harvest, the McManis family built a winery designed and built to maximize the resulting wine’s quality through small lot handling, whole cluster pressing and barrel storage and fermentation.

As it happens, I found their 2004 Pinot Grigio at a local deli in Los Angeles, which turned out appropriately, as I was purchasing sandwich goods and this white wine proved to be the perfect complementing beverage. Boasting a color of light straw and misty sunlight, this Pinot Grigio is filled with aromas of crisp grapefruit, pear and even fresh green grass—or perhaps that was just the hillside scent during my Sunday afternoon picnic.

A subtle flintiness and acidity gives this medium-bodied wine a spark during its finish, which doesn’t linger but does leave the mouth feeling refreshed, cleaned and sweetened, probably due to mild citrus and mineral flavors.

This McManis 2004 Pinot Grigio won the gold medal at the San Francisco Chronicle Tasting in April and pairs well with salads, shrimp dishes, light pastas, appetizers and fruit and cheese plates.

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