Best Pinot Grigio: 6 Critic-Rated Value Bottles

The best Pinot Grigio for your money doesn’t have to come from Italy. On current critic scores, two California bottles lead on value: SeaGlass Pinot Grigio 2025 and McManis Family Vineyards Pinot Grigio 2025, both 91 points from Wine Enthusiast and both under about $18. For a classic Italian bottle, Cantina Terlano’s 2024 Tradition from Alto Adige scored 92. Below are six Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris picks from Italy, Alsace, Oregon and California, each with its score, dated prices and our value verdict.

How we picked

We don’t taste the wines ourselves. Every pick has a published professional score for the exact vintage named and a US shelf price that we checked at two or more retailers in October 2026. The verdict follows our Blue Book Value method:

Critic score	Great Value at	Good Value at
93 and above	$30 or less	$45 or less
90 to 92	$20 or less	$30 or less
88 to 89	$15 or less	$20 or less

All scores come from Wine Enthusiast’s Buying Guide, which says its reviewers taste every wine blind. For each wine, it is the only professional score we could confirm on the publication’s own website, so each verdict rests on that one score. Some retailers display scores from other critics; we didn’t use those unless we could open the original review.

Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris are the same grape. The Italian name usually goes with a light, crisp style and the French name with a riper, fuller one. Our guide to Pinot Grigio explains the difference and the regions in detail.

The best Pinot Grigio at a glance

Wine	Style	Score (Wine Enthusiast)	Typical price (Oct 2026)	Verdict
SeaGlass Pinot Grigio 2025 (Central Coast)	Light, crisp	91	about $13–$17	Great Value
McManis Pinot Grigio 2025 (River Junction)	Light, zesty	91	about $18	Great Value
Underwood Pinot Gris 2024 (Oregon)	Lively, fruity	90	about $13–$17	Great Value
Erath Pinot Gris 2025 (Oregon)	Medium, orchard fruit	89	about $15–$18	Good Value
Cantina Terlano Tradition Pinot Grigio 2024 (Alto Adige)	Mountain, textured	92	about $25–$30	Good Value
Trimbach Pinot Gris Réserve 2018 (Alsace)	Rich, aged	93	about $35–$39	Good Value

Best Pinot Grigio under $20

SeaGlass Pinot Grigio 2025

• Score: 91 points, Wine Enthusiast (November 2026 issue), a Best Buy.
• Price: about $13 to $17, checked October 2026 ($12.95 at BuyWinesOnline and $16.95 at Wine On Sale, both for the 2025).
• Verdict: Great Value.

Wine Enthusiast’s reviewer, Matt Kettmann, found delicate pear on the nose and apple peel and tangerine on the palate, and called it eager to please. It is 13.5% alcohol. Our pick for the best Pinot Grigio overall: a 91-point score at a price you can pay on a weeknight. Chill it well and pour it with fish tacos, shrimp or a chicken salad.

McManis Family Vineyards Pinot Grigio 2025

• Score: 91 points, Wine Enthusiast (November 2026 issue), a Best Buy.
• Price: about $18, checked October 2026 ($17.99 list price at Napa Cabs and $17.95 at Wine On Sale, both for the 2025).
• Verdict: Great Value.

Wine Enthusiast lists River Junction as part of California’s Central Valley. Reviewer Tonya Pitts describes citrus and mineral aromas with savory herbs, then lime, white grapefruit, white peach and white pepper with supple acidity (the fresh, mouth-watering tang in a wine). At 11% alcohol it is the lightest wine on this list. We’d keep it for aperitifs, salads and grilled white fish.

Underwood Pinot Gris 2024

• Score: 90 points, Wine Enthusiast (December 31, 2025 issue), a Best Buy.
• Price: about $13 to $17, checked October 2026 ($12.90 at Saratoga Wine, $14 in the winery’s own online shop and $16.95 at Wine On Sale, all for the 2024).
• Verdict: Great Value.

Underwood is made by Oregon’s Union Wine Co., which says the wine is fermented cool in stainless steel and is vegan and gluten free. Reviewer Michael Alberty found passion fruit, lemon zest and chamomile, then guava and apple carried by lively acidity, and called it a lot of fun for $14. In our view it is the better buy of the two Oregon picks: a point higher than the Erath for a little less money. Try it with Thai green curry or a goat cheese salad.

Erath Pinot Gris 2025

• Score: 89 points, Wine Enthusiast (October 2026 issue), a Best Buy.
• Price: about $15 to $18, checked October 2026 ($14.99 at Marketview Liquor and $17.60 at Saratoga Wine, both for the 2025).
• Verdict: Good Value.

Michael Alberty calls it a classic Oregon take on Pinot Gris: Bosc pear, Golden Delicious apple, lime zest and almond, with apple and peach on the palate. He also calls it simple but fun, so in our view this is a crowd-pleaser rather than a wine to study. It is 13% alcohol. We’d pour it with roast chicken or pork tenderloin.

Best Italian and Alsace bottles to trade up to

Cantina Terlano Tradition Pinot Grigio 2024

• Score: 92 points, Wine Enthusiast (December 31, 2025 issue), an Editors’ Choice.
• Price: about $25 to $30, checked October 2026 ($24.99 at Chain Bridge Cellars and $29.99 at Mission Liquor, both for the 2024).
• Verdict: Good Value.

Reviewer Jeff Porter calls it mountain Pinot Grigio that shows why Alto Adige is special, linking its purity to the porphyry soils around Terlano and praising the balance of richness and precision. It is 13.5% alcohol. Our pick for an Italian Pinot Grigio with real character: it costs about twice as much as the California picks, and the reviewer singles out its serious texture. Serve it with seafood risotto or pasta with clams.

Trimbach Pinot Gris Réserve 2018

• Score: 93 points, Wine Enthusiast (May 2026 issue).
• Price: about $35 to $39, checked October 2026 ($34.95 at BuyWinesOnline and $38.95 at Wine On Sale, both for the 2018).
• Verdict: Good Value.

This is the full, French style of the grape from Alsace, and an older vintage: a 2018 reviewed in 2026. Reviewer Aleks Zecevic describes singed lemon peel and orange blossom honey, then yellow apple, persimmon and a little baking spice, with finely tuned acidity. At 14% alcohol it is the biggest wine on the page. We’d treat it as a dinner wine for roast pork, duck or a cheese board rather than a patio sipper.

For Costco shoppers

Costco’s Kirkland Signature Pinot Grigio, Friuli Grave DOC 2025 scored 94 points from Tastings.com (reviewed June 2026), at about $5.59, the Costco price in that review. Because it is sold only at Costco, we use the store’s own price, as our method allows for store guides. See our best Costco wine guide for the full entry.

What to look for in a good Pinot Grigio

If the bottles above aren’t on your shelf, these checks help:

• Read the name as a style clue. In our view, “Pinot Grigio” on a New World label usually means a light, crisp wine and “Pinot Gris” a rounder one. Our Pinot Grigio guide covers the styles.
• Look for a specific place. A named area such as Alto Adige, Friuli Isonzo or Oregon’s Rogue Valley tells you more than a broad regional label.
• Buy a young vintage for the light style. Most of our picks are 2024 or 2025. The Trimbach is the exception: a fuller 2018 Pinot Gris that Wine Enthusiast reviewed in 2026.
• Check the alcohol. Our picks run from 11% (McManis) to 14% (Trimbach). Lower usually means lighter and crisper.
• Consider its cousin. If you like crisp, gentle whites, Pinot Blanc is another member of the Pinot family worth trying.

Note: We looked at several highly rated Alto Adige bottles, including Nals Margreid’s 2024 Hill (94 points) and Muri-Gries 2024 (92 points), but couldn’t find each at two US stores in October 2026, so they are not picks.

How to find more good-value wine

Match the vintage to the score, compare a supermarket or liquor superstore with an online shop (the same bottle differed by up to $5 between stores in our checks), and look for the publication’s name on any shelf tag. Our guide to wine ratings explains what a 90-point score means. We recheck the prices on this page at least every three months and replace picks that sell out or move past their threshold.