Pinot Gris ‘strongest challenger’ to Sauvignon in NZ

After years of trying to find a ‘second’ white variety that can make an impression, momentum in New Zealand seems to be building behind Pinot Gris. Pinot Gris plantings have doubled in the last seven years, to around 2,700 hectares, making it the fourth most widely-planted grape in the country, after Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Plantings of Riesling, by contrast – thought by many to be the Next Big Thing – are falling. Chardonnay, too, is in gentle decline.