Riesling Recess

I could play a montage in my head of last week. In fact, I have been. I've been letting the cool, occasionally rainy days parade back and forth in my head, then forward and back like a slideshow gone awry. Tuesday, one of the tamer nights, included a Riesling tasting at another couple's home. Bugs also wrote about the tasting at bottlevariation.blogspot.com, so visit his blog for another, perhaps more serious and studious viewpoint, but please note that he stole some of his best lines from my tasting notes. Harrumph. Ahem. Here we go. 

We were served poached salmon atop a salad of greens, strawberries, goat cheese, pecans and a delicate roasted garlic vinaigrette. To start, because that's what an evening is, the commencement of the night, we sipped on Chinook's 2008 Cabernet Franc Rose. The peppery, strawberry-driven nose complemented the salad, but the palate, with its tart zing and berry sweetness, wasn't quite subtle enough for the subdued salmon. We waited for others to show up to pour the Riesling, the bottles all brown bagged and numbered, waiting in a quiet queue to be sampled and spat. 

The first, Australian Margaret River's 2006 Leeuwin Estate, greeted our glasses with a pale hay color, but the overwhelming smell of petrol made us shrink our noses. The attack was absurdly acidic, like warheads, but as the surprise wore off I picked up on green apples, sour peaches, a slight yeastiness and even a juiciness on the mid-palate. Overall, though, the $18 wine was too austere. I rated it a 6 and it received an average score of 5.2.

Next, Donnhoff's 2007 Riesling looked like diluted pineapple juice or an old metal shined up. It was sweet like honey and I found myself craving a bite of spicy Thai or Indian food to contradict and somehow satisfy the sweetness on my lips. I could drink a whole bottle of this stuff, but thankfully I limited myself to a glass. The tropical fruit, coconut and melon flavors were fun, but the fruit was subtle. Sweetness dominates this lick-your-lips wine. At $24 and 10% alcohol content, this wine was a worthy pleasure. I rated it a 7.5 and it received an average score of 6.6.

Substance's 2007 was a decent offering from Washington State, though it didn't induce the same level of mass-merriment as Germany's gift to the table. I picked up some fun citrus on the nose, but overall the wine was less expressive. Translucent in appearance, it tasted of tart kiwi, white grape juice, and had an orange and pineapple finish. Though beautifully balanced between sweet and acidic, it tasted cheap, cheaper than $18. I rated it a 6.5 and the group gave an average score of 5.5.

Mr Rigg's 2006 Watervale Riesling, another Australian number, smelled of petroleum and Haribo's raspberry candies. You know those ones with small wax and sugar dots stuck to the outside of a gummy berry? Yes, those! It tasted surprisingly of pineapple juice with vanilla vodka. I would know. We detected granny smith apple and sweet grass, but it was the hints of saline and oyster shell, as well as the firm acidity, that saved it from being cloying. I rated it a 7, the group a 5.5, and I think this is a good buy at only $12.

Domaine Marcel Deiss' 2007  Riesling from Alsace was floral and pretty, but somehow got stuck with the dreaded term "palatable." It smelled like a kitchen with bread rising on the counter and a pot of geraniums on the sill. Tart, with a slightly puckering attack, the pale wine revealed bright highnotes of apricot and pineapple. I rated the $25 wine a 6.5 and it received an average score of 5.8.

Lastly,  Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg 2007 Spatlese Riesling from Mosel stole the show. Divvied out into our glasses, the syrupy wine shone a darker yellow than those previous, an opaque light gold, like sun reflecting on water. After the harshness of the Australian wines, we welcomed the mild petroleum nose (expect Bugs, who noted a disappointing small of sulphur). It only made the tropical fruit flavors, risidual sugar and fruit acidity more complex. Indeed, it had the best balance of all the wines, and a price point of $35 to prove it. The low 8.5% alcohol content surprised me, but I suppose that's how great wines are made. I licked my teeth, trying to savor it. 

Clearly, I need more Donnhoff and Mosel in my life, more sweet yellow sun colors, more acidic tropical fruit tastiness. I'd like to devour great quantities of these wines from large opulent goblets, but of course that would be terribly indulgent, too terrible to do unless I shared it with you. So, next time, perhaps? 

Next time, next time we all murmured as we embraced and beelined for the door, Bugs bellyaching and me trying to hurry him home. We took a taxi back to Capitol Hill and fell into our bed of routine, each of us careful to set alarms and be asleep by 11, careful to wake up on the right side of the bed and tip toe through another dream-like day. Careful to again eat and drink ourselves into a slumber of domesticity. I look back on Tuesday and wonder if I'll ever sleep in the same bed again.