This week I wanted to share with you a wine that I enjoyed over the weekend. You see, February is hell in Brisbane. Although Summer begins in December, it would seem each year February is the most humid, hot and disgusting month of the year. It’s a month where you basically give up wearing makeup and consider how much you really need to go outside because let’s face it, you’ll be out there for one minute and be a sweaty mess. And don’t even think about going out there between 11 am and 3 pm because you will fry. Thank God then for wines like the Pacha Mama Pinot Gris.

February, therefore, is the time of year in Brisbane where you really need refreshing wine. It is the best time to test wine for how refreshing it actually is, as only the best will stand up to the Brisbane heat. There are many wines that will cool you down, but there aren’t many that will truly quench your thirst.

This wine is one of those brilliant wines that actually refreshes in this horrible humid weather that we call Brisbane Summer. And if it stands up in February, you better believe I am going to tell everyone about it!

Summer’s here and its found in this bottle

The wine I am reviewing this week is the Pacha Mama Pinot Gris 2017. I have to admit, I pulled it out of the wine fridge because I needed a white wine for a recipe, and I didn’t realise just how good it was going to be. We don’t usually drink a lot of white, so most of the white in our fridge should not be used as cooking wine, but I didn’t have a choice. So I decided that while I was cooking it would only be fair to the wine to try a glass. It would be rude not to, after all. So I poured a glass to enjoy while I rolled out the pasta dough.

I was at once torn between being pleasantly surprised by how delicious the wine was, and also being devastated that I had used it in the pasta sauce, and had less wine to enjoy in a glass. Unfortunately, these things happen, and if I think about it now at least it gave me a reason to open a bottle I may not have enjoyed for weeks to come! At least I still got a couple of glasses over the afternoon.

This wine is a little unassuming in what it presents to the world. It is from a small wine region in Victoria and has a pretty basic label. But what is inside is the complete opposite of its monochrome exterior.

Why I loved it

The Pacha Mama Pinot Gris 2017 is bursting with fruit flavours. When I smelt it I felt like I was taken to some tropical island destination with plenty of beautiful and sweet tropical fruit. This made me think the wine was going to be overpoweringly sweet because I was smelling stone fruit and passionfruit sort of smells. You know, the kind of ones that should be in a cocktail.

When I sipped this wine, I was completely surprised again. It was slightly sweet but far more crisp and acidic. This translates to this wine being super refreshing to drink, especially because of its oh-so-satisfying clean finish.

Translation: this wine makes you breathe a sigh of relief on a hot summer’s day. It’s the sort of wine that makes you hit pause for a second to just simply enjoy. That’s what you need in hot weather, and although this wine may not be overly complex, it is just plain enjoyable to drink.

What to enjoy it with

This wine is absolutely perfect as an afternoon drink, no food required. It pairs perfectly with a Sunday afternoon where you can sit back and relax with a wine in hand. Add on a late afternoon sunset and you have a great end to the weekend!

However, if you do want to pair this with food, I found it went quite well with a nice cheese platter. Especially hard goats cheese which was definitely my favourite flavour with this wine, but I am not one to pass up any cheese and wine pairing!

This wine would also go quite well with spicy food as I believe the sweetness in the wine would really balance this out. I’m thinking Thai food or something like Mexican to really complement the flavours.

The final word

What started as opening a bottle of wine for a pasta sauce ended with a beautiful wine that we polished off all too quickly. I love that sometimes the most unassuming wines are the most surprising and delicious. This wine was easy drinking and perfect for a hot summer’s day. I only wish I had another bottle or 6 to get me through the rest of February. It seems like we’re going to need thirst-quenching wines like these to help us with this heat!