Inside the Pinot Grigio DOC Delle Venezie Media Lunch & Masterclass

Pinot Grigio DOC Delle Venezie is Italy’s largest Pinot Grigio denomination, accounting for roughly 85% of the country’s total Pinot Grigio production. It spans three regions of North-Eastern Italy — Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and the Autonomous Province of Trento — an area historically known as the Triveneto.

What makes this appellation so distinctive is not a single, uniform landscape, but a genuine multi-terroir identity. From Alpine and Dolomite foothills to rolling hills and open plains, from river valleys to areas shaped by the proximity of the Adriatic Sea, the differences in altitude, climate, and soil composition create remarkably diverse growing conditions. The Triveneto’s cool climate and marked day-night temperature variation preserve freshness, acidity, and aromatic complexity in the wines — qualities that place Pinot Grigio DOC Delle Venezie apart from warmer production areas.

This diversity was very much the throughline of the day: one appellation, understood through the lens of three distinct regional identities.

Presented by Karyne Duplessis Piché, the Media Lunch invited guests to travel through the appellation one region at a time, with a menu created specifically for the occasion and built around three regional pairing stations — each one matching Pinot Grigio DOC Delle Venezie with dishes reflecting the culinary identity of its region.

Veneto — Sea

The Veneto station leaned into the region’s coastal and lagoon influences, pairing Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie with sardine, arancini, and a chef’s-choice Malakoff tartine featuring Fontina cheese.

Friuli Venezia Giulia — Mountain

The Friuli Venezia Giulia station brought forward the region’s mountain and alpine character, with a San Daniele ham bite, the classic Frico (Montasio cheese, potatoes, and onions), and a chef’s-choice melon salad.

Autonomous Province of Trento — Mountain, Austro-Hungarian Influence

The Autonomous Province of Trentostation highlighted the region’s Austro-Hungarian culinary heritage, pairing the wine with polenta, spätzle, and a chef’s-choice lamb shank with confit lemon.

Each station offered a tangible, edible way to understand how one denomination can express itself so differently from one region to the next — a fitting complement to the multi-terroir story at the heart of Pinot Grigio DOC Delle Venezie.

In the afternoon, Karyne Duplessis Piché led a dedicated Masterclass for trade professionals and media, offering a deeper, guided exploration of the denomination through a curated selection of Pinot Grigio DOC Delle Venezie references. The tasting traced the appellation’s range — from its classic, fresh and aromatic expression, marked by citrus, apple, pear, and tropical fruit notes with a balanced, saline finish, to Ramato, the denomination’s skin-contact style. Far from a rosé, Ramato is a genuine expression of Pinot Grigio in its own right: its grey-pink skins, left briefly in contact with the juice, produce a distinctive copper hue, layered aromatics, and a more structured palate.

For an audience that included restaurant and hospitality professionals alongside media, the Masterclass offered exactly what they came for: a clearer understanding of what sets this denomination apart, and the vocabulary to describe it with confidence.

Beyond the glass, both events reinforced a simple idea: this is a territory built for slow discovery. Its rolling vineyard roads, river valleys, and varied landscapes make the Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Autonomous Province of Trento an inviting destination for slow travel — the kind of trip where a bicycle, a producer’s cellar door, and a glass of Pinot Grigio DOC Delle Venezie all belong on the same itinerary.

From tasting station to tasting glass, the Media Lunch and Masterclass at the Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile offered a compelling introduction to a denomination defined by its diversity — one appellation, three regions, and a territory well worth the visit.