Pinot Gris/Grigio is wildly frustrating. Between deliciously textured Alsace-style indulgence and finessed Friulian delight lies an ocean of flavourless wines and awkwardly sweet misses.

Actually, it’s not just Gris/Grigio; a bunch of textural whites are wildly inconsistent. Like barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc, where the promise of oak can deliver fragrance and body, but so many wines taste like woody, sour lemon-dill wine. Or Viognier, which occasionally tastes like hedonistic peach nectar but mostly tastes like dropped apricots.

All of which adds up to a bunch of wines I occasionally love, but also annoy me enough with their vagaries that I skimp on tasting them, until the sample pile starts overflowing into the loungeroom (which annoys Mrs Ozwinereview no end).

So today, I’m diving headlong into the stash, with a bunch of Pinot Gris, fumé Sauv, Fiano and other mouthfilling white wines to work through.

Come on, let’s go on this somewhat frustrating and occasionally great journey together.

Samantha May Citrine 2025

Let’s start on a high note with a very clever Australian skin-contact style I like. It’s made from Orange Riesling with 8 months on skins. Yes, an orange wine from orange, just to mess with some heads. This smells amazing. Fancy soap, florals, pineapple, linalool; for all that pretty floral, it’s also tangy, linear, yet balances the phenolic punch so well. Never feels too dry, yet has lots of drive and singing with pretty florals and this perfect line of lemon rind fruit tang. What great balance for a skin contact style. Really grows on you too.

Best drinking: good now. 18.5/20, 94/100. 11%, $35. Would I buy it? A bottle in a flash.

Yangarra Ovitelli Blanc 2024

Another high bar, and a wine that is as much a winemaking exercise as an interesting drink. This Yangarra white is a blend of Grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc, Clairette and Roussanne. It’s quite summery smelling – buttercup, lemon and vanilla (but not oak vanilla) in a quite bright and lifted form. The interest is on the palate – it’s grippy, with this lemon phenolic whack that feels a bit brutish, despite the appeal of the marzipan white flower contrasts. It’s not easy, but hot dog, does this wine have some presence, as it just goes on throwing textures everywhere. Almost a gold medal wine on the palate depths alone, even if it’s not necessarily an easy drink.

Best drinking: nowish, no hurry, it might even settle some more. 18/20, 93/100. 13.5%, $65. Would I buy it? A few glasses.

First Ridge Vermentino 2025

This is a very good Vermentino. Mudgee has some of the oldest plantings of Sangiovese and Barbera in the country, so why not put quality Vermentino into the mix? The First Ridge Vineyard is as much a grower operation, selling fruit to plenty of Mudgee makers. This white carries the vineyard branding, though, and it’s certainly varietal. Tart, crisp, varietal. It feels like a proper Vermentino with that saline tang – I could be in Sardinia (take me back). Arguably it lacks some generosity, but it’s fresh, direct, and has enough beyond simple white pear fruit to be enjoyable.

Best drinking: nowish. 17.7/20, 92/100. 12%, $28. Would I buy it? Worth a few glasses.

Juxtaposed Lacey Vineyard Fiano 2025

Wes Pearson sources this Fiano from the Lacey Vineyard on the sand in Tatachilla, McLaren Vale. It’s a waxy wine with preserved-lemon tang, the mode just a little sweet and sour, but also long and mouthfilling. Dead serious Fiano this.

Best drinking: nowish. 17.7/20, 92/100. 12.8%, $33. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Nomads Garden Pinot Blanc 2024

I somehow let this slip through the cracks, and yet it still looks good, even though Ben must be onto 2026 almost by now. Anyway, from the Bellevue Vineyard in the King Valley, it’s light, cool and contained. Finessed and fresh with this tone of lovely white peachy, gentle-but-proper tart fruit. A delicate wine rather than a ripe one, maybe a bit lean but lovely refinement and liveliness.

Best drinking: now. 17.7/20, 92/100. 12.3%, $27. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Parish Vineyards Pinot Gris 2025

Parish Vineyards is part of the Hill Smith family’s Tasmanian brand portfolio, with the juice here from the Evandale Parish (in the Tamar Valley) and includes some barrel-matured parcels. Delicate and lightly fragrant, with a linalool note, clear lychee, and a hint of lemongrass. Delicate and nice powdered sorbet sort of delicacy. Lovely varietal mode and very crisp; just leans a little lean to be really slam-dunk great.

Best drinking: now. 17.7/20, 92/100. 12%, $35. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Renzaglia Pinot Gris 2025

From the ChaLou Vineyard in Orange. Coppery highlights. A gentle, powdery style with delicacy and fine strawberry and light pear fruit with surprisingly gentle lightness. A pretty wine but perhaps a little too delicate.

Best drinking: nowish. 17.7/20, 92/100. 12.5%, $39. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Soumah Savarro 2025

Savarro is another name for Savagnin. This is a pithy, fresh thing too, all grapefruit and lemon with a musky flourish, complete with some lantana florals. Some vintages this has looked a bit simple, but a little more concentration gets it over the line in 2025. Good solid drink.

Best drinking: 17.7/20, 92/100. 13%, $35. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Terre à Terre Crayères Reserve Fumé Blanc 2024

This barrel-fermented Sauv always take a few years to come together, although I think this vintage has a little more roundness. A pineapple and passionfruit varietal flourish to start, then it gets tight and grainy with passionfruit cream and a surprisingly ripe juiciness through the middle. Open and plump sort of thing rather than profound. Has a nice sense of juicy primary energy, though maybe not a profound reserve wine yet. Entirely likeable for now, if transitional.

Best drinking: next year. 17.7/20, 92/100. 13.5%, $59. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Yangarra Roux Beauté Roussanne 2024

Like the Ovitelli, this is all matured in concrete egg, but this cuvée is all Roussanne. Such a complex wine here again; golden yellow, there’s this waxy, emon and yellow fruit mid-palate. There’s the same preserved tannic lemon and great drive here too, though the back end feels a bit warm and drying rather than generous. Lots happening here, though.

Best drinking: now. 17.7/20, 92/100. 14%, $65. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Curly Flat Pinot Gris 2025

Probably the ugly duckling in the Curly Flat range, this Macedon Pinot Gris at least delivers some layers. It has a bronze tinge, and the palate shows slightly oxidative elements from whole-bunch-pressed fruit and barrel maturation. The Alsace intentions continue with creamy yellow apple and brown pear fruit textures on what is a medium-bodied palate, although the fruit ultimately can’t quite deal with the more phenolic oxidative intentions, and the acid is a bit low to keep it together. It’s plenty interesting but not complete.

Best drinking: now. 17.5/20, 91/100. 13.9%, $32, Would I buy it? A glass.

Vasse Felix Filius Sauvignon Blanc 2025

Margaret River Sauv, and 2/3rds of the blend is matured for 5 months in barrel. Ripe and concentrated thing too. You don’t see the oak, but a sheen of wood adds some texture. Lemony. A little grassy pyrazine snappiness, but more ripe citrus than anything. That’s the good and the bad parts – not much really jumps out here, it just glides on past with some lemony tang. Solid drink.

Best drinking: now. 17.5/20, 91/100. 13%, $28. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Castello di Meleto Simbionte Bianco 2023

This is a nutty, golden Tuscan white (a classic Trebbiano blend) matured in an acacia oak that feels like a flashback wine with a real old-school feel. Lemon, grilled nuts, preserved lemon, and honey. It’s round, full, looks a bit languid and broad, with a forwardness marked by a little aldehyde that blunts the energy a bit. There’s quite a mouthful of wine here, though.

Best drinking: right now. 17/20, 90/100. 13.5%, $95. Would I buy it? Probably not.

Deep Down Marlborough Blanc 2025

An odd blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. Other vintages have been a rather round mouthful, but this year feels like it’s missing the wildness. Tight, grapefruit-y with a bit of white flower coolness, then a palate of white peach and white fruit. It’s fresh, with a Chablis-like linearity but at the cost of much expression. I want a bit more.

Best drinking: nowish. 17/20, 90/100. 12%, $55. Would I buy it? A glass.

Tolloy Pinot Grigio 2024

Sourced from Alto Adige, this leans into the riper Grigio mode rather than a ‘flavourless alcoholic water’ style and is all the better for it. Broad-brushed apple and pear, a softer, lighter and rounder mode of light pear fruit. Not a big impact for this alcohol, but has nice soft edges and a varietal stamp with a little honey juiciness to finish. Entirely drinkable.

Best drinking: now. 17/20, 90/100. 13%, $45. Would I buy it? Maybe a glass.

Yalumba Samuels Collection Roussanne 2025

There’s plenty of slightly phenolic red apple fruit, but it’s otherwise a bit indistinct. You can see the grippy apple texture to finish too. Quality-wise, it’s hardly poor; hence the silver medal score. It’s just a bit characterless.

Best drinking: now. 17/20, 90/100. 13%, $28. Would I buy it? A glass at a push.

Aloft Pinot Gris 2025

For $18, this is a rock-solid Pinot Gris from an Adelaide Hills brand that does it just fine for the dollars. Light pink coloured, this has ripe red apple and yellow peach fruit, in a fleshy, simple, fruity, plenty crisp mode. It’s a bit short, but does exactly what it should.

Best drinking: now. 16.8/20, 89/100. 12%, $20. Would I buy it? A glass.

Castel Firmian Pinot Grigio 2024

Texture is the name of the game here, with plenty of yellow pear texture. Certainly more than just another Trentino Pinot Grigio with yellow and white pear lusciouensss, if just a bit clumsy (rather than fresh) to finish.

Best drinking: now. 16.8/20, 89/100. 12.5%, $35. Would I buy it? Probably not.

Domaine Galuval La Vallée Cairanne Blanc 2019

I’m not sure the age has done this Côtes du Rhône Blanc any favours. It’s a soft, warm, honeyed, golden buttercup of a sunshine wine that tends to chubbiness. The lemon and orange fruit is fighting against the toasty advance to keep shape. There’s a nice buttercup lode here, but it’s ultimately broad, diffuse and too expensive to be great.

Best drinking: now. 16.8/20, 89/100. 14%, $100. Would I buy it? No.

Duca Catemario Pinot Grigio 2024

Collio Pinot Grigio. Clean lines, a faint bronze hue, light, saline, clean and just a little waxy and leans lighter than the 13.5% alcohol suggests. Crisp and delineated, there isn’t much of anything beyond light, hard green pear. Not strictly short but not much intensity. Refreshing though.

Best drinking: now. 16.8/20, 89/100. 13.5%, $33. Would I buy it? A glass.

First Ridge Fiano 2025

Mudgee Fiano. Blink, and you miss it. A little wax and lemon balm with tangy correct fruit and not much else. Pleasant and refreshing but a bit unremarkable.

Best drinking: now. 16.8/20, 89/100. 12.5%, $30. Would I buy it? Maybe a glass.

Gundog Estate Indomitus Albus 2025

Matt Burton’s Indomitus experiments are always fascinating, even if they don’t always work. This is Hunter Semillon, wild-fermented, with a portion that spends 175 days on skins. Oh, and numbers for the anoraks – pH 3.18, TA 6.3G/L. RS 3.9g/L. A curious, compact wine. There’s a little grilled nuts and yellow fruit escaping, but otherwise it’s tight and quiet, with little fruit flavour and more about phenolics and apple-y acid. It doesn’t show much at all, which makes this harder than it should be, despite the obvious length.

Best drinking: I don’t know. Obviously later. Give it five, maybe. 16.8/20, 89/100. 10.2%, $40. Would I buy it? No.

Longview Queenie Pinot Grigio 2025

Everything in its right place with this Adelaide Hills Grigio, but it’s just a little underdone. Celery, grapefruit, crunchy, doesn’t taste like much at all. Greenish flavours and all quite muted. Fresh though.

Best drinking: now. 16.8/20, 89/100. 11.5%, $28. Would I buy it? No.

Anvers Pinot Gris Gewürztraminer 2025

Light and crunchy but doesn’t taste or smell of anything. Just a little linalool and pear, but so fleeting. Fresh crunch but missing any flavour. A surprise for this ripeness.

Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 13.5%, $26. Would I buy it? No.

Cupitts Arneis 2024

From the Pankhurst vineyard at Wallaroo (Canberra district). Chalky, forward, and indistinct; there’s some pear and a palate of chalky snappiness, but not much else. Missing a beat.

Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 13%, $34. Would I buy it? No.

Gundog Estate Off-Dry Semillon 2025

I’m yet to love one of these off-dry Hunter Sems, and we’re now twenty-six years down. Anyway, this doesn’t immediately smell sweet. Grapefruit and green apple, but then the sugar hits you like a wave. Short finish. This is a one-toned thing. Not poor quality, but a blunt instrument.

Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 7.5%, $32. Would I buy it? No.

Feudo Arancio Inzolia 2024

One of the most workmanlike wines in the typically good Feudo Arancio Sicilian range. Tart, chalky, neutral, acid- and phenolic-driven wine that doesn’t offer much of anything besides waxy tart fruit. It’s proper acidic but I want a few more highlights.

Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 13%, $20. Would I buy it? No.

Holm Oak Arneis 2025

Arneis can be a hard variety to get the expression right. Anyway, this Tassie version packs in some stonefruit with a slightly shrill peachy palate that’s a bit forward, the edges going a bit flabby, the mode white pear and peach. Curiously flat.

Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 13.5%, $32. Would I buy it? No.

Holm Oak Pinot Gris 2025

A little pink flourish suggests this is a riper wine, and indeed there is ripe pear and low acid. It’s forward and juicy, a simple, apple-y fresh sort of mode. Pleasant drinking.

Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.5%, $21.95. Would I buy it? No.

Kyneton Ridge Vermentino 2025

Macedon is hardly the first place I’d be going to for Vermentino. Anyway, this has a little floral flourish, but otherwise an indistinct nose. Clear green fruit underneath, but again, a bit of nothing. Curiously broad finish for what is a proper cool-climate site too. Hmm.

Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.5%, $35. Would I buy it? No.

Soumah Nebbiolo Bianco 2025

Yarra Valley Fiano (aka Nebbiolo Bianco). Lightly floral estery nose, but it lacks definition. Palate follows with clean, tart lemon lightness and not much else.

Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.8%, $35. Would I buy it? No.

Tahbilk Pinot Gris 2025

Another, more pink and ripe fruit take on the style; it’s low acid, with some brown pear fruit and a plump apple and pear pie palate. Drink up as it’s starting to get a bit chunky.

Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.5%, $21.95. Would I buy it? No.

Tahbilk Viognier 2025

Flabby and a bit flat, it’s a fair varietal take with peach and apricot juice, though with a cardboard edge and some unremarkable flab to finish. It’s plenty juicy, though, which is a big part of the appeal.

Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 13.5%, $21.95. Would I buy it? No.

Galuval Le Coq Volant 2021

Côtes du Rhône Villages Blanc here. Glowing straw yellow; it’s all yellow apples and salt spray. Lemon and forward nuttiness. A little too forward, cardboard-y and yet still slightly sour. Best days are behind it – it’s flattish.

Best drinking: last year. 16.3/20, 87/100. 12.5%, $40. Would I buy it? No.

Oxford Landing Pinot Grigio 2024

I get the audience here – someone who just wants a light, crisp alcoholic drink. But otherwise this is very middling. What little flavour is long gone, leaving some lightly crisp apple juice behind.

Best drinking: now. 15.5/20, 85/100. 10.5%, $15. Would I buy it? No.