Aug

14

img_3048.JPGAll else aside, if we were to judge a wine purely on how fast it disappeared from our glasses, Erben von Beulwitz’s 2006 Kabinett Riesling would be tough to out-do.  Folks, this is simply a beautiful and so very delicious wine that left us feeling sad every time we realized how fast we were drinking it down.

In the nose we found white nectarine (you can smell the sweetness — this is not a dry wine, as the 9% alcohol level suggests) and a touch of floral scents, and when tasting it we picked up flavors of nectarine and lime that lingered on.  The texture was much like nectarine or peach juice.

Let us put it this way: have you ever finished eating a perfectly ripe, juicy fruit that left you craving one, maybe two, or maybe three more?  That’s how we felt after finishing each glass of this stuff.

Where to get it: We bought our bottle at Plumpjack Wines in Noe Valley.  They ship.  You can also find it using the Snooth search function under “Wine Locator” in the right hand column of this page, or by visiting wine-searcher.com or winezap.com.

Jul

15

kung-fu-girl-riesling-2006.jpgThis week’s Weekday Wine is yet another winner.  The Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2006 is not dry, but it’s also not a dessert wine.  Picture, instead, a light-to-medium bodied white that’s about medium in sweetness (kind of like lemonade) and super refreshing when chilled (again, kind of like lemonade).

We found scents and flavors of peach and pear with a little bit of lime on the finish.  We bought our bottle on special at $11.95, but frankly, we’d have gladly parted with the normal price of $17 if we had to. 

Considering its price, taste, and the handy screwtop, Kung Fu Girl’s 2006 Riesling is – hands down – our favorite chilled wine thus far this year.

Where to get it: We bought our bottle at California Wine Merchant in San Francisco’s Marina District.  You can also find it using the Snooth search function under “Wine Locator” in the right hand column of this page, or by visiting wine-searcher.com or

Jul

1

pewsey-vale.jpgWe figured we’d follow up last week’s review of Australian Pinot Noir – a seemingly unusual red varietal for a region typically characterized by warm weather – by selecting for today’s Weekday Wine a bottling of an unusual white varietal from the same place: Riesling.  

Much to our liking, the 2007 Pewsey Vale Eden Valley Riesling was light, crisp (though mostly toward the back end of the mid-palate) and completely dry, with a nose of peach, slate mineral, and soft floral scents.  Lime and mineral dominated on the finish.

At $14 and with a screwtop, no less, this wine, much like last week’s Pinot Noir, was yet another steal for the price.

Where to get it: We bought our bottle at K&L Wines in San Francisco.  They ship.  You can also find it using the Snooth search function under “Wine Locator” in the right hand column of this page, or by visiting wine-searcher.com or winezap.com.

Feb

28

If you, like us, tend to prefer dry white wines over sweet ones, the Chateau Ste Michelle Dr. Loosen Eroica 2005 may surprise you.  This off-dry, German style Riesling makes a seriously positive impression thanks to its exceptional balance of a touch of sugar, a slightly bigger body than usual for the varietal, and bright, but consistent, acidity throughout.  It was particularly the latter quality of the wine that effectively neutralized any issue we might have had with sweetness.

As for the aromas and flavors, we picked up green apple that was slightly muted by peach, minerals, and a twist of lime.  In fact, English hard cider came to mind. 

Overall, we found this wine to be of a very high quality, a factor that, by itself, made it difficult not to enjoy.  And the best part: you can buy a bottle at Costco, where there were many, many others (albeit, the 2006’s) in stock.    

Feb

12

So as to ensure that we’re not encouraging people out there to skimp on wine when it comes to preparing for Valentine’s Day this Thursday, we felt it appropriate to choose a slightly more expensive bottle for this week’s Weekday Wine.

Last weekend, I was in New York City for a wedding, where I found the bottle of Riesling for which this posting is named.  As I was chatting with a clerk in a neighborhoody wine shop on the Upper East Side, we were interrupted when he was asked by his colleague to quickly grab a bottle of Chateau Margaux from behind a locked case for another customer.  Unfortunately for me, that wine — one of the world’s finest and most expensive Bordeauxs — was not being sold at a deep, deep discount.  Regardless, I was extremely pleased with the bottle that I ended up purchasing: the Schloss Gobelsburg Gobelsburger Riesling 2006.

With Rieslings, I usually opt for dryer versions, and for a dryer-is-better kind of guy, the Gobelsburger was a perfect match.  This wine had an enticing golden color reminiscent of Champagne, and in it, I found aromas and flavors of minerally grapefruit and green apple that carried through to a lengthy finish.  My favorite quality of all: the distinct punch of acidity that remained tempered perfectly by the wine’s other components. 

Overall, this is a refreshing wine that’s easy to like.

Jan

19

This evening I attended a wine tasting that was hosted by Johannes Leitz, who runs the Josef Leitz winery in the Rheingau region of Germany.  It was a unique opportunity to sample German Rieslings that fully cross the spectrum of sweetness.  As you may already know, German Rieslings can be super sweet or completely dry (i.e., non-sweet due to the fact that all of the sugar is fermented into alcohol), and there’s even a classification system in place to help guide consumers: “Kabinett” is the driest, “Spätlese” sweeter, and “Auslese” the sweetest.  Just note that not all German Rieslings fit into these categories - take the first bottle of the night, which was far drier than the Kabinett. 

In white wines, I tend to prefer lightness of body over heavy alcohol, a touch of minerality, a high level of acidity, and little or no sugar.  A fruity or floral bouquet is icing on the cake.  These are the reasons why Riesling is one of my favorite white grapes: done well, it can be everything I’m looking for in a white wine.  Gewurztraminer is another example of a grape that fits the above description, although it’s typically fuller bodied, less acidic and spicier than Riesling.  I’ll be reviewing a bottle of that varietal at some point soon.

What surprised me most about the Leitz wines this evening is how broad the spectrum of sweetness really is.  We began with the the driest of the five wines we would sample, in which not a grain of sugar was detectable, and from there the amount sweetness from sampling to sampling increased consistently and distinctively each time, four times over.

Among the wines that were poured, the 2006 Josef Leitz Rudesheimer Klosterlay Kabinett ($17) seemed to be the crowd favorite.  For example, while it was a bit off-dry, the woman next to me - a seasoned veteran with 30 years of experience tasting wines with her wine group - shared with me how impressed she was with the way ”the initial sweetness trails off through the finish.”   At $17 per bottle, it’s a good value and certainly a great place to start if you’re interested in trying wines from a cooler region like Germany.

By the way, if you’re looking to get a sense of what I’m talking about regarding sweetness gradations, serving Leitz’s Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese to a small group of friends would make for a fun, enlightening and easy do-it-yourself wine tasting.  Their names are listed below:

+ 2006 Josef Leitz Rudesheimer Klosterlay Kabinett ($17)

+ 2005 Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Spätlese ($34)

+ 2004 Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Bischofsberg Auslese ($17)

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