ASK ANY SERIOUS wine drinker to describe Pinot Grigio, and a stream of less-than-flattering adjectives is likely to follow: Watery. Insipid. Neutral. Boring. Few wines underwhelm as thoroughly as Pinot Grigio. Yet it's a consistent best seller—retailers tell me that they can't keep the stuff in stock. How to reconcile these seemingly opposing facts?

Produced in the northeastern region of Italy, from Veneto to Friuli to Alto Adige, Pinot Grigio tends to be crisp and fairly light-bodied. Pinot Grigio is also found in a few...