Glimmerglass Chapter American Wine Society
Cooperstown, NY Wine Tasting Notes
Rieslings
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Wine Price Score
1. 2007 Schmitt Sohne SV Dry Riesling (Germany) $8.99 12.8
Appearance: Translucent, Brilliant, Sparkles, Pale Straw Aroma/Bouquet: Pleasant, Light, Slightly Acidic
Body/Texture: Light, Smooth, “reserved” flavor, Taste/Flavor: Bitter, Fruity,
Aftertaste: Lingers, Quick finish
2. 2010 Alois Lageder Rain Riesling (Italy) $23.00 12.9
Appearance: Bright
Aroma/Bouquet: Floral, Apricot, Clean, Elusive, Pear, Melon, Leeche, Body/Texture: Medium, Smooth, Clean, Thin
Taste/Flavor: Tangerine, Citrus (Bitter), Sour, Aftertaste: Bitter, Lingers
3. 2010 Pacific Rim Riesling (Washington State) $12.99 14.6
Appearance: Brilliant
Aroma/Bouquet: Citrus, Smokey, Banana, Very Mild, Delicate, Thin Body/Texture: Medium,
Taste/Flavor: Slight sweetness, Fruit, Aftertaste: Lingers
4. 2011 Sawtooth Riesling (Snake River Valley, Idaho) $9.98 13.4
Appearance: Light, Pale
Aroma/Bouquet: Typical nose, peach, Apricot, Pear Body/Texture: Smooth, Peachy
Taste/Flavor: Bitter, citrus, Melon, fruity, simple, Robust Aftertaste: Soft, Licorice, Pepper, Lingers
5. 2008 Dragon’s Hollow Riesling (China) $8.99 7.1
Appearance:
Aroma/Bouquet: Musty, No nose, Gasoline, Pear, Fruit overwhelmed by chemicals Body/Texture:
Taste/Flavor: Chemical, Rubber, Plastic Aftertaste: Warm, Medium — Bitter,
6. 2008 Chateau des Charmes Riesling (Canada) $10.99 11.1
Appearance: Brilliant
Aroma/Bouquet: Paint?, Petroleum, Tin, Plastic, Fresh Grass (?), Light, Simple Body/Texture: Medium, Crisp
Taste/Flavor: Petrol, Bitter, Green Apple, Lime, Aftertaste: A bit acidic, lingers
7. Mill Pond Riesling (New York State) (To be Determined - Not Released) 13.4
Appearance:
Aroma/Bouquet: Peach, Floral, apple Body/Texture: Medium, Silky, Smooth
Taste/Flavor: “Sweetish”, Fruity, Pineapple, Apple, Rose (?), Mineral, Grapefruit Aftertaste: Rapid finish, Brief, clean, sweet
8. 2010 Washington Hills Late Harvest Riesling (Washington State) $12.99 12.0
Appearance:
Aroma/Bouquet: Melon, Fruit Body/Texture: Syrupy
Taste/Flavor: Sweet, raisins, Sweet, Too sweet Aftertaste:
Riesling Tasting June 9, 2012
The Wines
Openers:
New York State
Swedish Hill, Finger Lakes Riesling Cuvee, Sparkling Wine NV -- $16.99 Cooperstown Wine & Spirits
“Loaded with fresh floral and fruity aromas and flavors, this Riesling Sparkling wine is deliciously refreshing, complex and pleasing to both dry and sweet wine drinkers. Finished with just a bit of sweetness, this sparkling wine is an elegant addition to special occasions, or try it with stir-fry or many light summer meals.”
“A unique and wonderful elegant sparkling wine that emphasizes the luscious floral, fruity Riesling aroma and flavors. The slight sweetness is delicately balanced by the crisp acidity resulting in a festive sparkling wine that livens up any celebration. It also makes a great accompaniment to many brunch foods.” -- Winery
Awards:
Gold Medal NY Wine and Food Classic, NY 8/11 Gold Medal American Wine Society, NY 11/11
The Tasting:
1. Germany
2007 Schmitt Sohne SV Dry Riesling --$8.99 Cooperstown Wine & Spirits
"In a Riesling market that continues to grow and increase in sophistication, SV Dry Riesling is the right wine at the right time. Its fruity, floral aromas and stony character embody Schloss Vollrads winery's 800-year winemaking tradition. SV Dry is a wine with delicate aromas, a refreshing taste and a crisp, clean finish -- a perfect match for everything from Thanksgiving turkey to creamy pastas, spring lamb or a summer cookout."
– Winery
2. Italy
2010 Alois Lageder, Rain Riesling
$23.00 Cooperstown Wine & Spirits
“Brilliant straw-yellow color with a light green shimmer. Clean, quite pronounced varietal aroma with refined fruity notes (peach, pear). Dry, medium-bodied, well balanced, grapey flavor with a crisp, refreshing finish and persistent aftertaste. The lively acidity is well integrated in the wine’s fruit structure. When properly cellared, this wine may be kept for at least 3 – 5 years.” – Winery
3. Washington State (Our “control” wine) Pacific Rim, 2010 Riesling, Columbia Valley
— $12.99 Cooperstown Wine & Spirits
“Right on the borderline between dry and sweet, this richly fruity Riesling is packed with flavors of peach, apricot, pear, a hint of mint, and a streak of wet stone. There is a lot going on for such an inexpensive wine.” WE--Rated 90 points Wine Enthusiast
Because of the popularity and demand of our Dry Riesling and Sweet Riesling, we thought it made perfect sense to craft a Riesling in a taste profile that was directly between our other popular Rieslings. Combine the facts that this slightly sweet flavor profile represents over one million cases sold in the market and that our new Riesling is line-priced with our Dry Riesling and Sweet Riesling, it's a homerun proposition.
As wine lovers crave alternatives to heavy and oaky white wines, Riesling is experiencing a true revival (like a phoenix rising from the ashes (the inspiration for our label artwork).
Portraying bright crispness, subtle sweetness and aromas of jasmine, pear and apple, the wine exemplifies the harmony of Riesling. The sweetness plays wonderfully with fiery fare (from Thai to Mexican), while the natural acidity stands up to richer foods (from French to German).
Alcohol 11.5% Residual Sugar 3.1%, pH:3.11, TA:.75%
4. Nampa, Idaho
Sawtooth 2011 Riesling, Snake River Valley
— $9.98 https://winelibrary.com/
"Riesling, one of the four 'nobel grapes,' makes especially good wines in Idaho with our
combination of long, cool nights, warm days and volcanic soils. 'A fruit salad of aroma's, apricot, peach and pear give way to bright fruit flavors and crisp acidity with a hint of sweetness and a clean finish. An ideal wine as an aperitif or with light cheeses and fruits." –Winery
Aromas of fresh citrus. Medium body with a lemon crème Brule feel to it. Great acid from start to finish. Just a bit heavy on the residual, but the acidity balances that out. Very long finish.
An Idaho wine, spicy and substantial, with apple and melon fruit, and hints of clove and ginger.
Winemaking: Slow tank fermentation to extract fruit aromas, balanced sweetness with acidity.
Aging: 100% Stainless Steel
Varietal blend: 95% Riesling, 5% Muscat Blanc pH: 3.09, TA: 0.7, RS: 2.0%, Alcohol: 11.6%
5. China
2008 Dragon’s Hollow Riesling
— $8.99 https://winelibrary.com/
Golden yellow color, the mixed floral aroma lingering freshly, with hints of honey and Pagoda tree flowers. Touches of rose and lemon plants. This Riesling has developed a nice buttery flavor and a very round delicate structure.
Generic Riesling nose. Harsh chemical note on the palate. It would not have been all that offensive were it not for the flavors of chemistry lab/industrial plant.
Taste: apple, pear, peach, apricot, and honey
Nose: petrol, flint, rose petal, violet, orange peel, apple, pear, and peach 6. Canada
2008 Chateau des Charmes Riesling
— $10.99 https://winelibrary.com/
A light gold color, with a classic Riesling nose of mineral and green apple. The wine is off-dry, with fresh apricot and peach flavors and a clean, fresh finish. Well-balanced and stylish. Perfect for an aperitif or with a fruit-based salad.
There is a nice bit of mineral on this wine that really brings it all together, it combines with the dried peach, light lime and touch of mac apple; a Riesling the whole family could love at a price worthy of a case purchase, it should age nicely.
— 87 Pts. Wine Spectator
7. New York State
Anonymous Brown Bag(?) Riesling
“Real pleasant aroma, great level of sweetness--both for me and I think for customers Balanced acidity--some after taste acidity that pulls on the salivary glands (that's good) Taste with distinct grapefruit component. Pleasant aftertaste lingers.” — Winemaker Residual sugar 1.75%, pH 3.05
Washington State
2010 Washington Hills Late Harvest Riesling
— $12.99 Cooperstown Wine & Spirits
“A delicious Late Harvest Riesling filled with aromas and flavors of apricots and orange blossom honey. With body on the mid-palate, light vanilla and cantaloupe notes linger on the finish.”
"A fragrant, pretty nose filled with floral, nectarine and clover honey notes. A sweet, tantalizing palate of navel oranges and peaches lead to lingering rich fruit and sweetness on the finish." – winemaker
Riesling notes Riesling
Worldwide, there are about 34.000 hectares planted with Riesling.
Germany – with 22.400 hectares – accounts for 2/3 of the total.
The second largest Riesling producer is Australia, with 4500 hectares. But this is only about 1/10 of the total.
Alsace follows with 3500 hectares.
Austria, the US with Washington State and New York State as well as New Zealand makes up the remainder.
Overall Riesling is really a niche wine, accounting for only less than 1 percent of total wine production in the world - but a very special niche wine.
Originating in the Rhine region of Germany, cultivated as far back as the 1400's, Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying distinctive floral & citrus-like aromas as well as high acidity.
Much loved by wine makers and wine connoisseurs alike for its crisp flavor and defined palate structure, Riesling was the most planted white grape in Australia until the early 1990's when Chardonnay increased in popularity. Its debutant years were those of the 1970's when Australia experienced a period known as the 'white grape boom'. You may also recall the popularity of
"Hunter River Rieslings" in the Hunter Valley. This was later revealed to actually be Semillon, but due to the popularity of Riesling at the time it was referred to as such.
Riesling wines are usually varietally pure and seldom oaked. Well suited to colder climate locations, Riesling vines bud late, are hard-wooded and are highly "terroir - expressive" (the character of the wine is particularly influenced by where it is grown). Australian Rieslings are well known for their citrus blossom aromas and flavors, with the better examples finishing dry and full in flavor, in comparison to New Zealand Riesling that are renowned for being lighter and more delicate.
Riesling wines are often consumed young and fresh, when they are fruity & aromatic, and have a crisp taste. However, it is one of the few white wines that has the ability to age very well. With naturally high acidity and comparable low alcohol, Riesling wines retain an enviable freshness which many other varieties lack making them suitable for extended aging, showing secondary honey, toast and kerosene characters.
For a long time for whatever reason, good Riesling has been notoriously undervalued when compared with other white varieties. Today, while we are certainly paying more for it, Riesling remains one of the best value wine varieties on the market.
Riesling Sugar Guidelines: The Scale
It is proposed that the International Riesling Foundation supports four sweetness categories for Riesling, as set forth below, using no numbers to designate the various categories. They will be referenced only by the terms we used for each of the four categories. Wineries are encouraged to use these categories on all their literature and labeling as well as verbally as a guide for
wholesalers, retailers, restaurateurs and consumers.
In the following list, sugar and acid are listed in grams per liter.
The proposal is as follows:
Dry. All wines carrying this designation will have a sugar-to-acid ratio not exceeding 1.0. For example, a wine with 6.8 grams of sugar and 7.5 grams of acidity would be in the same category as a wine with 8.1 grams of sugar and 9.0 grams of acid. Similarly, a wine with 12 grams of sugar and 12 grams of acid would be classified as dry.
Notice also that wines that are totally or “near-totally” dry (such as 4 grams per liter) will have a much lower ratio. For instance, a wine with only 3 grams of sugar and a total acidity of 6 grams per liter will have a ratio of .5, and clearly the wine is dry.)
As to pH: we assume that the range of pHs for most Rieslings is between 2.9 and 3.4. So 3.1 is the “base” pH with which most wine makers will be working. So if the pH of wine is 3.1 or 3.2, it remains in this dry category. But if the pH is 3.3 or 3.4, it moves up to Medium Dry. (And if the pH is 3.5 or higher, the wine maker may wish to move the wine to Medium Sweet.)
Medium Dry. Here the ratio is 1.0 to 2.0 acid to sugar. Example: a wine with 7.5 grams of acid could have a maximum sugar level of 15.0 grams. And if the pH is above 3.3, it moves to Medium Sweet, and if the pH is as low as 2.9 or lower, the wine moves to Dry.
Medium Sweet. The ratio here is 2.1 to 4.0 acid to sugar. Example: a wine with 7.5 grams of acid could have a maximum sugar level of 30 grams. And again, the same pH factor applies as a level two wine: if the pH rises to 3.3, you move up to Dessert, and if the pH drops to 2.9 you move to Medium Dry. And if the pH is 2.8 or below (highly unlikely), the wine could be called Dry.
Sweet. Ratio above 4.1, but using the pH adjustment, a sweeter wine with a ratio of, say, 4.4 might actually be moved to Medium Sweet if the pH is significantly lower.
It is vital that all IRF members adhere to the same terminology so when we speak to Riesling consumers about what is a dry wine and what is a medium dry wine, we are all speaking the same language.
This guideline should assist restaurants in that servers can verbally tell patrons what style of wine they will be getting. The more it is used, the more the terminology will be understood.
It is highly recommended that this guideline be used in conjunction with the IRF’s approved graphic interpretation, called The Taste Profile, that could be used on back labels, case cards, shelf-talkers, and so forth. For this proposal to have the greatest impact, the terms we offer above for the four levels of sweetness remain unchanged.
–Dan Berger
