(This is my first time posting TNs; I’m a relative amateur compared to most people on here, but I’ve been tasting some interesting CA Rieslings and wanted to share several reviews.).
Union Sacré is perhaps my favorite winery in California for its dedication to Alsatian-style wines from vineyards along the Central Coast, stretching from Lompoc to the Santa Lucia Highlands. I’d been curious for a while about the difference between the “reserve” level of Union Sacré’s wines that’s included in the wine club and the non-reserve wines that I’d seen around at various retailers. From what I gathered through tasting room visits, the best barrels were set aside for the reserve wines while the rest were made into the non-reserve ones. Would there be a noticeable difference if I tasted them blind?
A few months ago I set up a head-to-head blind test with two orange Rieslings from the 2020 vintage from the Rancho Sisquoc vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley of Central California. According to the tech sheets, both were fermented on skins for 30 days, adding the orange color.
The Union Sacré 2020 Fragrance Riesling ($42, wine club discount to $34) and the Union Sacré 2020 Dry Orange Riesling ($22 at KandL), both from the Rancho Sisquoc Vineyard.
(Placed on my left)
Wonderful nose. Classic Riesling, a bit of petrol into off-dry cream soda. On the tongue a lovely initial interplay of leather, intense lime zest, and the classic Riesling taste (don’t know how better to describe it). Fairly acidic, but in a good way. A hint of tropical fruit and a bit of allspice too. Also feels more complex than the other wine, with each sip riding a clear wave of flavor, as well as seemingly slightly less sweet-tasting than the other (though they’re both very dry). This one rated a solid “A-” (92).
(Placed on my right)
Faint smell of classic Riesling funkiness on the nose, and a little bit of honey. Light taste on the tongue, fairly acidic. Citrus fruit, like an orange or tangerine, dominates the flavors with a bit of washed stone coming through as well. Some hints of peach. Not as concentrated as one might hope and the finish is a bit abbreviated. Definitely taste a bit more honey and honeysuckle flavors on this one compared to the other. I would rate this wine a “B” (84) overall. Not bad, but felt like it’s lacking something.
Once the bottles were revealed, it was indeed the reserve-level Fragrance on my left that won out as superior. Definitely worth a bit more $$ for those really fun flavors.
I then decided to try Union Sacre’s non-orange reserve-level Riesling from the same vineyard, just to see the difference that the 30 days on lees had made (I also wanted to try the Rancho Sisquoc Winery’s own 2020 Riesling, but alas that vintage hasn’t been released yet). This tasting was not blind and took place a few weeks after the other.
Union Sacré 2020 “Fraulein” Riesling from Rancho Sisquoc ($38, wine club discount to $30).
Extremely light petrol on the nose and the initial taste on the tongue. Strong bitter lemon and lime flavors towards the end of the palate. A tiny bit of pepper as well. Rather “flinty” in terms of the mouthfeel. This has a very strong, almost harsh acidity that’s puckering and mouth-watering in equal measures. Finish is very long, with maybe a hint of toasted coconut? (the tasting notes say “white chocolate”; don’t really get that, but I could see something candied/earthy like that). Quite good. A-/B+ (90)
Finally, I tasted three Rieslings from Cole Ranch last month, on the other end of the state in Northern California just outside the Anderson Valley. I had never had any wine from Cole Ranch before, but I made a point to stop at Rootdown Cellars’ tasting room in Healdsburg to try their two takes on Riesling from there, “R1” and “R2.” Unfortunately, the pours were pretty small and both tasted somewhat muted and soft, so I wondered if the bottles had been opened for awhile [I would need to get fresh bottles to really review them]. Still, it was enough to get me to pick up another Riesling from Cole Ranch and compare it to the others.
Desire Lines 2020 Cole Ranch Riesling ($28 at KandL)
Vanilla-cream soda nose that over time developed more pear-lemon flavors. Full-bodied with a substantive mouthfeel. Mild but noticeable acidity. Notes of bitter lemon, key lime, stone, wet grass, and lingering alcohol. Rather abrupt finish. I can see some of that “creaminess” that I detected in the Rootdown Rieslings as well as a relative lack of perceived acidity (especially noticeable compared to the Union Sacre Rieslings). I’d rate it a B/B+ (87).
(If allowed, I might collect future reviews on this post too since I plan to keep tasting through more CA Rieslings in the future)