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60 WINES&VINES September 2018 P inot Gris is a mysterious cultivar with many faces. A mutation of Pinot Noir, its grapes can exhibit skin color ranging from a light grayish blue to a brown- ish pink along with almost black or pale green, with the variations even evident on the same canes. In the last 30 years, it has become more prevalent in the United States. It was first planted by David Lett of Eyrie Vineyards in Oregon in 1965. The early 1990s saw a con- certed effort to popularize the wine, when Ed King planted some 100 acres of the vines at his newly formed King Estate Winery in Eugene, Ore. Currently, the winery has more than 300 acres of this cultivar planted, all of it organically grown, and it is the nation's largest producer of Pinot Gris wine. Today, the variety is grown throughout California, Or- egon, Washington, Idaho, Michigan and New York, and several other states have smaller acreages. This article will provide insight into the viticultural details at two Pinot Gris producers in New York's Finger Lakes region. A second article will highlight the techniques two winemakers use to produce similar and different styles of this wine. Anthony Road Wine Co. of Penn Yan, N.Y., and Damiani Wine Cellars of Burdett, N.Y., each produce about 800 cases of Pinot Gris annually from fruit grown along Seneca Lake. Growing Pinot Gris at Anthony Road Wine Company John and Ann Martini planted their first grapes in 1973, but Anthony Road Wine Co.'s first vintage wasn't until 1989. Today, the winery has about 85 acres in production, and the vineyards have been managed by their oldest son, Peter Martini, since 1999. Their planting of almost 11 acres of Pinot Gris is currently the largest planting of the variety in the Finger Lakes. Ten of the acres were planted on 100 acres of land originally purchased by California's Robert Young family in 2001 (at the time, a significant recognition of the potential future of the Finger Lakes). Anthony Road bought the land from the Young family in 2014 and has since sold it, while continuing to manage the current planting of 55 acres. "We've got good dirt and gentle slopes," Peter Martini said. He identified the soil as a Cayuga and Honeoye silt loam that is generally well-drained, except in isolated spots where the shale layer is very high, leaving only 16 inches of topsoil. The vines were sourced from Vintage Nurseries, in Wasco, Calif., which last year changed its name to Wonder- ful Nurseries. The vines include two clones, 146 and a lesser amount of a clone name that Martini cannot find in his records. The majority of the rootstock is 3306, with some 101-14 also used. Laser planted in two phases by Benchmark Custom Planting of Ovid, N.Y., in 2002 and Pinot Gris in the Finger Lakes Careful vineyard management and rigorous spray programs lead to high-quality yields in New York By Ray Pompilio Verrill's double-lyre training system is basically two vertical shoot positioned canopies that open at about three feet above the ground and with left and right wires set an angle. RAY POMPILIO