Domaine Des Herbauges, Loire Valley (France) Grolleau Gris 2017

 I had never tasted a wine made from Groleau Gris until a friend gave me a bottle of this Domaine des Herbauges recently, but I am happy now to add this grape to my list of white wines to look for.  It has a very distinctive appearance (lightly grayish pink) and unique and appealing flavors that include grapefruit, a little peach, perhaps, and a touch of wet-pebble minerality.  The wine is typically fairly low in alcohol (11.5% per volume in this case), and while not notably complex it is refreshingly tart and fruity.  Unfined and unfiltered, it was aged in thermo-regulated glass tanks.  Domaine des Herbauges has been in the hands of the Choblet family for five generations, and while the estate is known principally for its Muscat, wine lovers will surely be pleased to discover Grolleau Gris.