Best American Riesling

[Marcu_Stanley]

Another vote here for Hermann J Wiemer from the Finger Lakes. Try some of their vineyard designates. I haven’t tasted a ton of American rieslings but the Finger Lakes ones seem to have a lighter touch than the West Coast.

[robert_creth]

Paetra!

[stevetimko]

@lleichtman

Belle Pente and Brooks.

I was going to name these two plus Stony Hill. Both Belle Pente and Brooks are not super dry. Brooks makes a range of rieslings.

Coincidentally, six years ago today I posted this photo to Facebook of the young Pascal Brooks, who inherited the winery when his father died. I took it at the winery.

[Mike_Rotondo]

@Clayton Wai-Poi

@JeromeHan

@Alan C h a n

I was going to say Ravines or Hermann J Wiemer. In all honesty I think the FLX far outstrips what I’ve had from the West Coast, but the best West Coast rieslings I had were from Oregon. Brooks had some I was impressed with.

Agreed. FLX has a fairly long history (relatively) in terms of Riesling. Dr. Konstantin Frank and Wiemer are some of my favorite domestic Rieslings, though I have had a couple from Washington that weren’t too bad.

Misspelling on funger aside… I actually meant Weimer for top pick. Dr Frank is fine but Weimer was the best when I visited many years ago.

Clayton - Wiemer is probably still the top of the heap, but having been to FLX region a few times in the past year or two, I’d say there are some others also doing great things with riesling, especially in the dry style.

The Wiemer dry reserve and single vineyard bottlings are just gorgeous with nuanced fruit and ripping acid.
Ravines is also doing great things, which is not much of a surprise. But I’ve also tasted some great dry rieslings at Keuka Lake Vineyards and Lamoreaux Landing (I believe Lamoreaux was a favorite of your brother and Rebekah when they visited)

In an off dry style, Shaw Vineyards also in the finger lakes makes a great wine in the kabinett style, in the German vein, complete with the petrol on the nose.

[Gareth_Welch]

Kung Fu Girl is a staple on a couple of chain lists over here in England.

I’ve had it a few times and it’s been uniformly awful, I would rate it as bad as Blossom Hill.

Maybe you have a different “version” in the US.

[Thomas_Keim]

Without a doubt - it’s the FINGER LAKES - Not Germany/Alsace - but easily the best New World Rieslings -

Lots to mention -

RED NEWT CELLARS - Single Vineyard & their regular ‘Circle’ Offering
WAGNER VINEYARDS - Affordable, everyday Rieslings that rock -
BOUNDARY BREAKS - New kid on the block - Exceptional Rieslings from Kabinett to Eiswein -
KEMMETER WINES - Mailing list only, Johannes Reinhardt is a fabulous winemaker
KEUKA LAKE WINERY - Very small production, but superb Rieslings
BLOOMER CREEK - Mainly mailing list as well - great range of Rieslings
SHAW VINEYARDS - Released 6-8 years after vintage, 12 months plus on the lees -

[JeromeHan]

@Gareth Welch

Kung Fu Girl is a staple on a couple of chain lists over here in England.

I’ve had it a few times and it’s been uniformly awful, I would rate it as bad as Blossom Hill.

Maybe you have a different “version” in the US.

I doubt it’s a different version. Kung Fu Girl is definitely a fairly divisive wine. It’s not anything to contemplate, but it something tasty to quaff slightly overchilled on a hot day.

[Bill_H_o_o_p_e_r]

Thanks for all of the love and encouragement, everyone! It’s great to be mentioned here!

Cheers,
Bill

[Scott_Everson]

Now I want to know what the Berserker Riesling authorities think about Paetra, since I’ve never tried it. And maybe someone can set up an East Coast NY vs West Coast OR/WA double blind Reisling taste-off. Unlike my routinely intended disrespect of the Chardonnay pricing of Seth Morgon Long, I mean no disrespect to Bill, but I’ve always wondered if pro-Berserker Day-participant bias affects fellow Berserker reports of newbie winemakers.

Where does one find Paetra in PDX?

[R_Gaston]

Give Ojai Vineyard Kick On Riesling a try…

[Jay_Miller]

This thread is definitely tempting me to pick up some Paetra to try. Despite my having finished of my annual wine budget last week.

[Monte_Mast]

@Scott Everson

Now I want to know what the Berserker Riesling authorities think about Paetra, since I’ve never tried it. And maybe someone can set up an East Coast NY vs West Coast OR/WA double blind Reisling taste-off. Unlike my routinely intended disrespect of the Chardonnay pricing of Seth Morgon Long, I mean no disrespect to Bill, but I’ve always wondered if pro-Berserker Day-participant bias affects fellow Berserker reports of newbie winemakers.

Where does one find Paetra in PDX?

I stumbled on Paetra when Bill was just getting started. I’m pretty sure it was pre-Berserker Day participation. I was specifically looking into Oregon Riesling because 1). I was traveling there with some frequency and 2). we were eating a lot of Asian food. Bill’s story intrigued me (Our Story - Weinbau Paetra) being a German trained winemaker working in Oregon. Also Riesling is his primary focus, not just a white to compliment his pinots.

I would describe Paetra wines as New World cousins of their German relatives. They are Germanic in spirit with new world fruit and terroir. I drink quite a bit of riesling and to my taste, you would be hard pressed to single them out of a lineup of Pfalz Kabinetts. They might be a hair brighter and more acidic than their continental counterparts but the difference is slight. I’m well into my third case of these wines and I’m still very enthusiastic.

Honestly, I don’t think you would be disappointed.

[Scott_Tallman]

@Monte Mast

@Scott Everson

Now I want to know what the Berserker Riesling authorities think about Paetra, since I’ve never tried it. And maybe someone can set up an East Coast NY vs West Coast OR/WA double blind Reisling taste-off. Unlike my routinely intended disrespect of the Chardonnay pricing of Seth Morgon Long, I mean no disrespect to Bill, but I’ve always wondered if pro-Berserker Day-participant bias affects fellow Berserker reports of newbie winemakers.

Where does one find Paetra in PDX?

I stumbled on Paetra when Bill was just getting started. I’m pretty sure it was pre-Berserker Day participation. I was specifically looking into Oregon Riesling because 1). I was traveling there with some frequency and 2). we were eating a lot of Asian food. Bill’s story intrigued me (Our Story - Weinbau Paetra) being a German trained winemaker working in Oregon. Also Riesling is his primary focus, not just a white to compliment his pinots.

I would describe Paetra wines as New World cousins of their German relatives. They are Germanic in spirit with new world fruit and terroir. I drink quite a bit of riesling and to my taste, you would be hard pressed to single them out of a lineup of Pfalz Kabinetts. They might be a hair brighter and more acidic than their continental counterparts but the difference is slight. I’m well into my third case of these wines and I’m still very enthusiastic.

Honestly, I don’t think you would be disappointed.

Agree with Monte. Also met Bill and tasted his wines pre-BD. The wines are so well priced, just buy direct from Bill. Vinopolis offered some a month or so ago, but you’d have to check if any left.

[Seth_Rosenberg]

There were some great late harvest Rieslings made in CA back in the old days: Chateau St. Jean, Freemark Abbey, and Long are some of the ones I know well. These days, it is definitely FLX. I agree completely with others who have singled out Ravines’ Argetsinger Vyd Riesling - probably the best dry Riesling I’ve had from the states. Also excellent are the Wiemer wines - I’ve got a soft spot for the Magdalena Vyd. I really liked 09 for FLX wines, in particular, the off-dry to Kab/Spat level wines from Red Newt were killer that year: the Davis (Feinherb), Lahoma (Kab/Spat) and Sawmill (Feinherb closer to Trocken) Vyd wines - I didn’t like them as much in 10 at all.

[Siun_O_Connell]

@Monte Mast

@Scott Everson

Now I want to know what the Berserker Riesling authorities think about Paetra, since I’ve never tried it. And maybe someone can set up an East Coast NY vs West Coast OR/WA double blind Reisling taste-off. Unlike my routinely intended disrespect of the Chardonnay pricing of Seth Morgon Long, I mean no disrespect to Bill, but I’ve always wondered if pro-Berserker Day-participant bias affects fellow Berserker reports of newbie winemakers.

Where does one find Paetra in PDX?

I stumbled on Paetra when Bill was just getting started. I’m pretty sure it was pre-Berserker Day participation. I was specifically looking into Oregon Riesling because 1). I was traveling there with some frequency and 2). we were eating a lot of Asian food. Bill’s story intrigued me (Our Story - Weinbau Paetra) being a German trained winemaker working in Oregon. Also Riesling is his primary focus, not just a white to compliment his pinots.

I would describe Paetra wines as New World cousins of their German relatives. They are Germanic in spirit with new world fruit and terroir. I drink quite a bit of riesling and to my taste, you would be hard pressed to single them out of a lineup of Pfalz Kabinetts. They might be a hair brighter and more acidic than their continental counterparts but the difference is slight. I’m well into my third case of these wines and I’m still very enthusiastic.

Honestly, I don’t think you would be disappointed.

Also pre BD here - Bill wrote an incredibly informative post during one Riesling discussion that taught me a lot - and that led me to order from his first release - very gladI did.

[etomasi]

Also, don’t forget about Finger Lakes sparkling Riesling. Many are quite good. The pet nat from Red Tail Ridge may be the the most perfect summer porch sipper I have ever had in my life.

[dsGriswold]

I missed the BD Paetra offer so bought a mixed case from Vinopolis. Very good pricing and the wines are very good with a range of dry to sweet. I haven’t tasted them all, but am impressed and will buy more. Starting to drink more Riesling.

[Kyle_Schlachter]

This is the list of wines in the main tasting:

2013 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Singerriedel Smaragd, Wachau, Austria
2015 Ravines Wine Cellars Dry Riesling, Finger Lakes
2016 Grosset, Polish Hill Riesling, Clare Valley, Australia
2006 Pewsey Vale Vineyard, The Contours Museum Reserve, Eden Valley, Australia
2015 Dönnhoff Estate Riesling Trocken, Nahe
2015 Weigut Leitz Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling “Ehrenfels” Grosses Lage, Rheingau
2015 Trisaetum Vineyards Wichmann Dundee Estate Dry Riesling, Dundee Hills AVA, Oregon
2015 Domain Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Brand Grand Cru, Alsace Grand Cru
2014 Hermann J. Wiemer Late Harvest Riesling, Finger Lakes
2009 Joh. Jos. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Auslese, Mosel
2003 Basserman Jordan Deidesheimer Kieselberg Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese, Pfalz

[Thomas_Keim]

@Seth Rosenberg

There were some great late harvest Rieslings made in CA back in the old days: Chateau St. Jean, Freemark Abbey, and Long are some of the ones I know well. These days, it is definitely FLX. I agree completely with others who have singled out Ravines’ Argetsinger Vyd Riesling - probably the best dry Riesling I’ve had from the states. Also excellent are the Wiemer wines - I’ve got a soft spot for the Magdalena Vyd. I really liked 09 for FLX wines, in particular, the off-dry to Kab/Spat level wines from Red Newt were killer that year: the Davis (Feinherb), Lahoma (Kab/Spat) and Sawmill (Feinherb closer to Trocken) Vyd wines - I didn’t like them as much in 10 at all.

When Dick Arrowood was at Chateau St Jean, some of those late harvest Rieslings were literally dark brown in the bottle - and that was upon release…

[Eric_Lundblad]

Looks like Ross Cobb bottled a 2016 Anderson Valley Riesling…has anyone tasted it? I saw comments somewhere that it’s 3.0pH and 5g/l RS