Archive for the ‘Riesling’ Category
There are a lot of different wine sites out there giving suggestions on what you should be pouring during your Thanksgiving festivities. Since, however, it’s been fairly well established what varietals go well with the traditional Thanksgiving feast, I thought I would change it up and let you know what I’m pouring at dinner, or rather, what I’m taking up to my parents house to pour for the army-sized feast my mother will be cooking.
2009 Coastal Vines Pinot Noir – Sonoma, CA – $10
Varietal: 22.7% Malvasia Bianca; 15.9% Gruner Veltliner; 15.7% Sauvignon Blanc; 9.2% Gewurztraminer; 7.9% Riesling; 7.3% Chenin Blanc; 6.1% Muscat Canelli; 5.2% Viognier; 4.5% Verdelho; 4.4% Albarino; 1.1% Pinot Gris
Region: California – USA
Cost: $10 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: Big House wines are a rebellious mix of non-traditional grape varieties destined to give the imbiber a new experience. To wit this year’s prisoner is a captivating blend of aromatic whites that span the distance of the Alps themselves. With a nose that carries the vibrancy of spring and white flowers and lychee fruit that surround the senses. The palate opens up to tropical fruits, dried apricot, and white peaches. This wine finishes strong with a cleansing citrus zest that lingers. Pairs with fresh fish, Asian cuisine, or even Sunday morning fruit salads.
My Review: I’m a big proponent of tables wines, and I feel as though that’s a niche that Big House wines has embraced and possibly even tried to make their own. Looking at the list of wines that are put into the bottle it’s almost disappointing to not see one labeled “kitchen sink”. There are times when a wine can try and do too much and end up falling flat, and while I’m not going to go so far as to proclaim the 2010 Big House White an amazing wine, for a $10 table wine, you can do a lot worse.
Well, the end of summer isn’t that far away, so when I was recently sent a mixed case of summer white wines, it seemed a shame to sit on them and try to go through them each individually as I would have quickly run out of summer by the time I was able to get to them all. With that in mind I invited some friends over, opened up all the wines, and tasted them all at once, because let’s be honest, that’s what summer’s really all about. Here’s what I thought.
The first one I tasted was the 2010 La Fiera Pinot Grigio (SRP $8). I got mostly apples on both the nose and the palate with a nice lingering finish with just the right amount of acid. There was a slight hint of sweetness to my palate, but for being the first one I tried, it was a good start and it’s a good value for these kinds of parties.
Next up were two from Tiamo. First was the Tiamo Prosecco (SRP $15) which had a hint of citrus on the nose with medium sized bubbles and a slight bit of yeast on the palate and a mix of crisp fruit. This was definitely not a super-dry Prosecco and it was quickly consumed by my friends.
Varietal: 100% Riesling
Region: Washington – USA
Cost: $7 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: A medium-bodied, complex Riesling with peach, apricot, and melon which leads to a satisfying, smooth finish. Tropical notes and sweet aromas in a wine that pairs well with tofu stir-fry, shredded pork tacos, and sake sashimi.
My Review: Wow, I have taken my time getting to the 2009 FlipFlop Riesling. It’s not even that I didn’t want to give it a try, as I did enjoy the other two wines I tried from FlipFlop, but that I wanted to make sure I had a meal that would be a good pairing for the Riesling. Finally, yesterday I got around to doing just that.
After stopping at Mekong (a great place in Richmond, VA for Vietnamese food – if you live in Richmond and haven’t been there you’re missing out) to pick up some dinner, my wife and I dug in and opened up the wine. In the glass the wine was very light, nearly clear, with a subtle aroma of generic tropical fruit – nothing I wasn’t really expecting. What I wasn’t expecting was the taste.
Varietal: 100% Riesling
Region: Germany – Landwein Rhein
Cost: $24 (SRP of Octavin Home Wine Bar)
Winemaker’s Notes: Light in the glass with aromas of peaches and pear that follow through to the palate and finish with a nice crispness. A perfect match for firm cheeses, pastas with cream sauce, lighter seafood dishes, and Asian cuisine.
My Review: I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m not a huge Riesling drinker.Now, before I get comments and emails from devout Riesling lovers, let me qualify that. I grew up in Germany, and my first experiences with wine were mostly German. Now, I know that not all German Rieslings are incredibly sweet, but some of them are, and those are what I was first exposed to, and now my palate tends more towards robust reds than sweet whites, so I don’t drink a lot of the grape – it is what it is. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Riesling
Region: France – Alsace
Cost: $13.50
Light in the glass with aromas of citrus. Crisp and dry in the mouth with mineral and effervescence on the finish. Pairs well with sushi, sashimi, smoked salmon, BBQ chicken.
Recommendations: When a lot of people see Riesling, they instantly think of sweet. While this is certainly a correct assumption of the Riesling is from Germany, the bottle of 2008 Woelfelin that I opened last night was not. Dry is the quickest way to describe the wine, though certainly not the only. Some citrus on the nose and palate, though with the effervescence, minerality, and a touch of acid it was hard to pick out exact citrus fruits beyond just a general sensation.
Paired with a dinner of dry rubbed BBQ chicken and some risotto, the acid was actually nice, and was in fact balanced by the creaminess of the risotto and the slight heat of the chicken. All said it was a good pairing. Read the rest of this entry »
