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Soon after Gerald Norton-Knight finished building his beloved Hut in the Rosby hills, a strange wine-drinking creature crawled out of the bush and took up residence within its rustic walls... At first, his presence was met with trepidation from the Norton-Knight family, but they soon realised he was friendly and merely wanted to share his knowledge of wine with a world he knew would appreciate it. After the creature successfully predicted the outcome of Rosby's first wine show results, the Norton-Knights decided they must keep him, and named him 'The Oracle'.

Today, the Oracle spends his days in the shade of The Hut, comparing Rosby vintages, finalising his tasting notes, and discovering new ways of communicating with Rosby drinkers. If you have a question for The Oracle, he'd love to hear it here. Otherwise, he looks forward to sharing a glass of Rosby red in the Hut soon.


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Oracle Question #216

Dear Oracle,
What is the difference between Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio?

Dear Anonymous,
It is the same grape - Pinot Gris in France, Pinot Grigio in Italian.  Gris means grey in French, Grigio means grey in Italian. The Italians harvest the grape earlier, before the grape has fully ripened and therefor it has more acid and is fresher, crisper, as a wine.  Think of the likely food pairings in Italy, strong flavours, oils, salt, olives tomatoes etc.  The French harvest the grape later, riper with full sugar development.  Pinot Gris show a fuller rounder, softer flavour, they can still be fresh but are closer to a white burgundy style than the Italian Pinot Grigio.

Oracle

Oracle Question #210

Dear Oracle,

As one who is touted as reading the future and having all the answers, I would ask you to help out with my recent perplexity.

My wife has become a great lover of Rosby wines. I have no problem with this as Rosby wines are world class and extremely palatable. The problem lies with the innovative, catchy website, created by some artistic genius named Amber. Amber's website has now taken my wife's attention - so much so that her current intentions are to halve the grocery bill and double the wine expenditure. I fear that my pocket money may also under pressure. Where is this heading, who is responsible (Amber or my wife)? -  and what do I do?

I appeal to you in this situation, especially as you have a particular affinity with my wife - she also knows all the answers, and uncannily, can tell me what I will be doing most of the time.

For the sake of my wife's privacy, I have intentionally omitted her name.

Looking forward to a 'cleansing' reply.

CG

Dear CG

I would recommend reconciling myself to the inevitable, lying back and thinking of Australia and with my rations being cut, concentrate on becoming the thinnest drunk in town.

Oracle