“Before I was married, I learned the difference between cheap and expensive wine after I was married, I learned to drink the cheap wine.”

Paul Smith

Go on folks, how long is it since you tried a Pinot Grigio? It was one of those wines like Blue Nun, Liebfraumilch, blush zinfandel and Le Piat D'Or that we started our journey on as pimply-faced early twenty somethings trying to act like sophisticated early forty somethings. Then it became a grape we knew was safe and cheap but didn't really like to buy for ourselves any more because we had moved onto Chardonnay, so we gave it as gifts to babysitters and neighbours who didn't annoy us for the next ten years or so before letting it drift into memory.

It’s time to give it another go though folks because the drink of our youth is hip again, as well as being very nice indeed now that the sun seems to be coming out to play.

Pinot Grigio by the way is also known as Pinot Gris in Alsace and parts of the New World, particularly New Zealand, and it’s been used to make wine since the middle ages. It's an interesting grape because the style of the wine it produces can range from light bodied with youthful bouncy fruit to bone dry with high acidity and a palate as refreshing as a cold shower. If you’re a fan of pudding wines by the way, and we will visit them in detail later in the year, Pinot Gris produces some corking late harvest sweeties with all the fruit of its normal cousins as well as a delicious oily palate. The best of these types in recent years has come from New Zealand by the way.

Anyway, the bulk of Pinot Grigio that you will see on the shelves is Italian with most of the production coming from the far north east of the country, although Sicily is knocking out some crackers at the moment. So, now that we’re all grown up and our acne has faded, we can revisit Pinot in an adult fashion and pair it with real food rather than a takeaway curry. If you’ve never tried a chilled one with a vindaloo by the way, you should tick it off your bucket list, especially if you need your sinuses cleared because the acidity goes for the curry like horny dog to a leg. It's not necessarily edifying but it is a good laugh.

Anyway, like I said, we’re all adult now so you need to break out the shellfish, especially grilled langoustines, with which Pinot Grigio shines. It’s also particularly good paired with Dover sole and lemon or for a real summer treat, a fresh crab salad.

Anyway folks, I'm about to uncork my twenties again so its time to say pip pip for another week.

Pinot Grigio Classico, Cantina, Italy

More refined and balanced than most Pinots. An aromatic nose with melons and grapefruits on the finish. Superb with most fish dishes, especially on a hot day

Ten Acre Wines Ltd £16.95

Weather Station Pinot Grigio, South Africa

Light and fresh with hints of apples and pears. This one would be a really good aperitif of barbie wine.

Marks & Spencer £7.50