OjaiVnyds Riesling KickOnRanch/SBC (13.5%) Helen&Adam Tolmach/OakView 2016: Med.light gold color; very strong R/floral/mango/pineapple/gardenias light Mosel valve oil/petrol bit flinty/mineral/Germanic quite perfumed/aromatic lovely R nose; quite tart/tangy/bit lean some rich strong R/floral/gardenias/mango/pineapple slightly off-dry (0.3%-0.4% r.s.) light petrol some flinty/mineral rather perfumed flavor; very long rather tart/tangy/bit metallic strong R/mango/pineapple/floral/gardenias light Mosel valve oil/petrol bit flinty/mineral bit off-dry finish; a lovely perfumed R in a bit of a Germanic style.
Ser Dry Riesling WirzVnyd/CienegaVlly (13%; www.SerWinery.com; 160 cs) SantaCruz 2017: Med.gold color; beautiful mineral/chalky/flinty strong R/floral/mango very strong petrol/Mosel valve oil quite complex very perfumed nose; quite tart/tangy slightly rich totally dry but not austere strong Mosel valve oil/petrol strong R/floral/mango rather complex flavor; very long/lingering quite tart/tangy/bit metallic strong chalky/mineral some petrol/Mosel valve oil strong floral/R/mango quite complex finish; a beautiful very Germanic expression of Calif R.
Bedrock Riesling WirzVnyd/CienegaVlly (13.5%; Dry Farmed; Plntd: 1963; Own-rooted; Frmtd: IndigenousYeasts; Aged in neutral Fr.oak cask) Sonoma 2016: Med.gold slightly lighter color; quieter bit shy/reserved rather chalky/mineral/stony light mango/R/floral fairly perfumed slight Mosel valve oil bit complex nose; fairly tart/tangy/bit metallic fairly stony/chalky bit rich some R/floral/mango totally dry slight Mosel valve oil bit complex flavor; very long some floral/R/mango slight chalky/mineral very light petrol bit earthy finish; quite an attractive R but a bit simpler.
A wee BloodyPulpit:
I’m finding there’s a lot of interesting R coming out of Calif these days. Ones from WirzVnyd and from ColeRanch & McFaddenRanch in MendoCnty show particularly well.
Of these three, I far preferred NicoleWalsh’s Ser R for its strong petrol character. The Ojai was probably the least interesting of the three, but still quite good.
Tom
For a Calif R. Maybe a bit on the younger side, but sorta middle-aged. Calif R, unfortunately,
are not aged very long, typically. But they can age.
Tom
While I’ve drifted away from Santa Barbara area wine, Adam Tolmach is such an underrated winemaker. I’ve always thought of him as sort of the Tom Dehlinger of the South.
Riesling is on the march in CA. I’m really a believer in Cole Ranch.
Agreed, the CA Riesling renaissance is exciting. My favorites are from Mendocino: Bedrock Cole Ranch, followed by Toulouse Estate. Ser and Stirm both make a really nice Wirz (haven’t had a chance to try the Bedrock version yet). Edit: Forgot Desire Lines, great Mendocino ones there as well.
I will have to try again, but my prior experiences with Cali Riesling were not good, in which I had a blind tasting of one from Germany, one from New York and one from California. In that order, I rated them 1, 2 and 4. The California Riesling suffered from California weather - the weather is too hot and sunny so the wine was too cloying and creamy with an annoying mouth feel and inadequate acidity. I do not remember the wine. Maybe it was picked too late.
Love the Ser Winery Riesling. Bedrock is also lovely, but the Cole Ranch had the edge over the Wirz last I tried them. But I always buy their Rieslings - great value.
In the Riesling Struggle thread; I think CA Riesling has a great future, but it certainly isn’t a slam dunk from a sales point yet. But against all sanity, I’ve myself quadrupled my Riesling vineyards this year. I hope that there will be increasing interest down the line.
BTW, one of my fancier higher end dining restaurant customers main somm said (mainly about Tatomer): “I’m positive they will be huge in a few years. The CA producers doing them now are just ahead of the curve”. Nice encouraging words.
Adam I know you like your Riesling dry and crisp (Trocken) and I’m assuming the Riesling you make will be in the same style. Curious where you have quadrupled your vineyard sites at?
Still taking from Curtis in Santa Ynez, have added one in Monterey and a potential (quite known) one in San Benito as well as one from award-winning vineyard in Lodi/Mokelumne. Small amounts, but will be interesting to see the different expressions.
I’ll take a shot - offer them on Berserkerday because I do not think they otherwise come into New York. Two-thirds of my cellar is from California, so I am willing to avoid adversely affecting the balance of payments deficit, but I need crisp Riesling with acidity to balance the fruit. I’ll also take traditional Kabinett-level RS with balance, which may also help with marketing in the US. I find that many “civilians” define dry wine as anything with less than about 15 gms/liter of RS, and they prefer 5-15 gms/liter to a completely trocken Riesling.
That has been my experience with Cali Rieslings as well. I have yet to have one a I like but then, I’m a fan of German Riesling so maybe unfair comparison.
Went to the Cubs game last night at Wrigley, but first stopped at Cozy Noodle for Thai. Brought my bottle back with me.
First of all, this wine was absolutely delicious. Lychee, and slightly floral. Peach/Apricot/Pineapple, some citrus, a little pectin, all in a sweet style. Crisp and bright. Very easy to drink. One of my favorite wines of the summer so far.
