Pinot Grigio, during the first decade of the 21st century, took over from Chardonnay as the name of the most popular white wine in the global mass market. It came to signify a vaguely aromatic, dryish, unoaked white. It is also the common Italian name for the French vine variety pinot gris and, as such, is probably the name by which the variety is best known to many wine drinkers. Because of Pinot Grigio’s popularity, many producers worldwide choose this name in preference to Pinot Gris. There were about 3,500 ha/8,600 acres of Pinot Grigio vineyard in Italy in 1990 (much less than the area planted with pinot bianco, for example) but so great was demand for Pinot Grigio that its plantings had overtaken those of Pinot Bianco to reach 6,700 ha by 2000, and 17,280 ha/42,682 acres of Pinot Grigio by 2010, almost as much as Chardonnay’s 19,709 ha.
