N/V Silver Leaf Pinot Gris

Silver Leaf is a new winery on the Leelanau Peninsula in northern Michigan. This is one of "those" wines - finnicky with serving temp and air. Serve this as you would a Beaujolais, cool, but not cold - too cold and it's a tight mess.

A little bit of pineapple on the nose, with some general tropical qualities, with a vaguely buttery thing as well.

More pineapple with a buttery mouthfeel on the palate. Dry with a nice acidic zing - fine balance and a bit of vanilla plus some interesting tropical fruit, papaya mostly and even a bit of starfruit. I generally loathe even a hint of oak in my whites, but this is subtle and balance enough that while it's there, it does kinda work.

Papaya on the finish big time.

I wasn't too keen on this when it was right out of the fridge, but it comes together very nicely with some air and as it approaches room temperature. Anyone wine with prominent papaya gets a nod from me, so kudos.

This wine was consumed and reviewed as part of the Tweet and Taste Michigan Wine on Thursday, October 7, 2010. This was not tasted blind and the bottle was comped - all effort has been made to be as objective and honest as possible.

Score: 87