“Dry Riesling” 2005
Riesling is one of the world’s greatest wine grapes. When properly grown and vinified it can have great flavor intensity, a wide range of flavors, wonderfully rich and complex bouquet, and will age longer than almost any other white wine and longer than many reds. Unfortunately it has been used to produce many sweet, thin, uninteresting wines in recent years, which has diminished the reputation of the Riesling variety.

We winemakers in the Northeast are fortunate to have many vineyard sites that grow excellent quality Riesling grapes. Taking advantage of this, we wanted to produce a wine that exhibited all of the great qualities of Riesling, in a pure, completely dry style, similar to the Rieslings produced in Alsace. For this we use only the best grapes available and ferment the clarified juice very slowly at about 50 degrees Fahrenheit for up to six weeks. This allows for maximum retention of the fragrant aromatics and crisp natural acidity. Maturation was completed in stainless steel tanks to retain the purity of flavor.

This is not, by any means, just an academic exercise. The resulting wine is crisp and clean with rich, pure, clear Riesling character. It is especially suited to pair with many “Pacific Rim” seafood dishes, grilled seafood, dishes that are slightly salty, such as those with olives or capers, or with many salads. It also goes well with a variety of cheeses and is especially refreshing in hot weather. You don’t miss the sweetness a bit! This wine is delicious now, but will continue to develop and age for 4 to 6 years.