Wente Vineyards Pacific Mist Pinot Grigio California White Wine

This bottle carries the Pinot Grigio name. Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are two names for the same grape, not two different grapes. Guides say the Pinot Grigio wording often signals a lighter, crisper leaning rather than a fuller, more textured one. In the stores we checked in September 2026, the lowest regular price we saw was $13.49, toward the lower end of the white wines we track.

The top of that September 2026 range was $19.99. We do not have a shopper rating for this wine. Wente Vineyards says its family winery was founded in Livermore Valley in 1883. For flavor, guides to the grape reach for pear, apple, citrus and stone fruit, with a range that runs from dry to gently off-dry.

Wente's own product page for the current release lists 12.5 percent alcohol and states the winemaking choice plainly: the grapes are cold fermented in stainless steel tanks with no oak, which the producer says keeps the natural fruit flavors in place. The producer's tasting notes reach for orange blossom and honeydew melon on the nose, key lime and Bartlett pear on the palate, with crisp green apple, zesty grapefruit and bright citrus rounding it out, the maker's words for a lighter style that matches the Grigio name on the label. The bottle also carries a 92-point score from The Tasting Panel, awarded within Wente's Coastal Vineyard Series, the eight-wine collection this Pinot Grigio belongs to; that review points to ripe pear and green apple with bright acidity, plus notes of almond, honey, sweet basil and salty lanolin.

Our call: worth reaching for if a producer that publishes its own winemaking choices and a professional score is enough for you; Wente names its stainless-steel, no-oak style plainly and The Tasting Panel put 92 points behind this bottling, at a price that lands toward the lower end of the whites we track. Pass if you want shopper validation first; no rating has reached our record, so the case here rests on the producer's account and one critic's score, not a crowd.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.