Tony Terlato has probably seen it all over his 50 years in the wine business, so when he determines that what the world really needs is another Pinot Grigio, he’s probaby right.
Terlato grew up selling wine in Chicago, first at the retail level, then as a distributor and finally, and most famously, as an importer. His company, Paterno Imports, built the renowned Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio brand here in the United States.
Tony knows Pinot Grigio. But a funny thing happened on the way to the bank. Terlato came across a restaurant with 20 Pinot Grigios on its list, but no Santa Margherita. He discovered this trendy New York restaurant had a policy of stocking only domestic wines.
So Terlato, who by then had become a vintner himself (Chimney Rock, Rutherford Hill, Sanford, etc.), called his chief winemaker in Napa, Doug Fletcher, and told him he wanted him to make a Pinot Grigio.
“Not any Pinot Grigio,” said Terlato. “If I’m going to make it and put my name on it, I want it to be the best Pinot Grigio.”
With those marching orders, Fletcher began the quest to find a source for high quality Pinot Grigio. He eventually found a vineyard.
“Doug called me and said ‘Tony, I have good news and I have bad news,'” said Terlato. “I said ‘Give me the good news first.’ Doug said, ‘I found your Pinot Grigio.’ I said ‘What’s the bad news?’
“He said, ‘It’s in the Russian River Valley. We should really be planting Pinot Noir there that we can sell for $48 a bottle instead of Pinot Grigio that we can sell for $22 a bottle. Do you still want to make Pinot Grigio?'”
The answer, as so often is the case in the wine industry, is in the bottle. The 2005 Terlato Pinot Grigio (Russian River Valley) is Tony’s third vintage, and each year of production he has quickly sold out all 1800 cases made.
I don’t know if this is the finest Pinot Grigio produced here in the United States, but it is certainly up there. Beautifully balanced, textured and remarkably long yet fresh and delicate on the palate, the Terlato reminds me of my two favorite Italian Pinot Grigios, from Alois Lageder in Alto Adige and Livio Felluga in Friuli. It even has a bit of the mineral aspect you will find in those two wines.
I can think of no higher praise!
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