It all began in 1990 with the planting of Pinot Grigio vines at two vineyards on the Mornington Peninsula. To our surprise, the wines made from the different vineyards showed two distinctive expressions of the same grape variety. One had a crisp Pinot Grigio style typical of northern Italy, while the other showed richer, more luscious characters typical of Pinot Gris in northern France (they are the same grape variety – Pinot Grigio is the Italian name for the French variety Pinot Gris).

This discovery inspired us to venture to Friuli in Italy and Alsace in France to learn more about the remarkable Pinot Gris grape variety and to witness its true versatility of styles.

We returned home to the Peninsula with a plan to make wines reflective of this broad spectrum, and in doing so championed the production of Pinot Gris and Grigio wines in Australia.

Some thought our ideas were risky at the time, nonetheless today Pinot Gris/Grigio is one of Australia's most popular varietals and T'Gallant has continued a tradition of producing benchmark examples alongside other fresh, food-friendly wines with personality ever since.