News & Blog

Pacific Rim Le riesling de l’Ouest américan à son meilleur: A review from Vins et Vignobles in Quebec

Brian — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:31:30 +0000

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90 Points for Wallula Biodynamic and Solstice - Wine Spectator

Brian — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:29:16 +0000

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Today Show: Don’t Forget the Wine

admin — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:56:18 +0000

The Riesling Fellowship event in London

Nicolas — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:14:36 +0000

Pacific Rim had the great honor to represent North American Riesling at the Riesling Fellowship event hosted at the German Embassy in London this week. We were the only North American winery to attend along with some of the greatest German Riesling producers (Georg Breuer, Wittmann, Rebholz, Loosen, Selbach-Oster, Egon Muller, JJ Prum, Robert Weil, Donnhoff) and along a few other producers from select countries (Rabl for Austria, Trimbach for Alsace, Pewsey Vale for Australia, Conor Sur for South America, Pegasus Bay for New Zealand). The attendance was very small (55 attendees) and quite impressive (head of wineries attending, press, sommelier, embassy guests…). The event was very organized (you are at the German embassy after all, what should you expect?) with a tasting, a talk about global warming and its impact on Riesling and a dinner.

The tasting was very interesting with 32 wines (we brought along our Wallula Vineyard and Wallula Vineyard Biodynamic). The wines that resonated the most to me that evening were:

2003 Cono Sur Vision Bio Bio Valley (Chile) - My first Chilean Riesling, and very very delicious
2007 Terra Montosa, Weingut Georg Breuer (Rheingau) - Very nice dryish style
2007 Auslese Zeltinger Schlossberg, Weingut Selbach Oster (Mosel) - Zingy and young
1997 Spatlese, Kiedrich Grafenberg, Weingut Robert Weil (Rheingau) - Sweet, acid, aged, one of the best wines that night
1997 Auslese. Erdener Treppchen, Weingut Dr Loosen (Mosel) - Sl Botrytis, aristocratic, nice
1997 Auslese Goldkapsel, Scharzerhof, Weingut Egon Muller (Mosel) - Stole the show, amazing wine

Our wines fared very very well in this company and I had several people come to me to congratulate us on our wines.

After the tasting, we went through a good presentation from Professor Schultz (University of Geisenheim). Seems like the Germans are quite happy about global warming as it is making their wines superb every year. Sounds also like we need to buy some land in Southern England and in Canada folks…

Dinner was very polite with a few speeches. I really loved the voice of the German Ambassador (Herr Boomgaarden, what a great name for an ambassador!) as it was contrasting perfectly with the delicate Riesling we had with dinner. Talking about dinner, can someone give me the recipe for this insane crepinette of veal with tarragon and mushroom? I could not stop eating that dish and had three servings (I stopped because I thought I was getting a bit overboard…). Best of all, the choice of beer or coffee after dinner - very very civilized (I took the beer of course).

Thank you Wines of Germany and the wine institute and of course Herr and Frau Boomgaarden for the evening. It was quite special.

International Wine Cellar: Stephen Tanzer reviews Pacific Rim wines

Brian — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:49:42 +0000

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Okusai Pilgrimage

Nicolas — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:28:59 +0000

I had time today to swing by the British Museum in London to pay respect to the famous print from Sensei Okusai and one of its most famous piece: “In The Hollow of a Wave off the Coast at Kanagawa“ , a part of his great “36 views of Mount FuJi (I guess he had somewhat of an obsession with the divine volcano). Below are the pictures I took from the piece:

Like many before us, this extraordinary work of art has always been an inspiration for our team and this is why we display our interpretation of it as a tribute on our Chenin Blanc label - Of course on the label Mount Fuji is erupting with a cloud of cherry blossom. We have also used the beautiful wave pattern to create a cameo on our single vineyard package to illustrate the power of the Missoula floods

If you want to know more about the art on our labels, I invite you to browse through our site. You can follow the link to look at the Chenin Blanc.

Ambassade de L’ile

Nicolas — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:55:43 +0000

If you happen to be looking for a great gastronomique stop in London, I invite you to go to the Ambassade de l’Ile in Kensington. The restaurant is the sister of l’Auberge de l’Ile in Lyon (hence the connection with me since this is where I was born). The place is very nice and the food was top notch for the price. Count on spending some money still (may be 100 pounds/person) but really the food is worth every penny of it.

Link to the web site of L’Ambassade de l’ile: http://www.aubergedelile.com/

Cellar Reading: ‘Riesling Rules’ - really - San Francisco Chronicle

Brian — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:54:48 +0000

With Riesling’s explosion onto the wine scene, this hedonistic but intellectual wine is getting a boost from a timely, concise and extremely comprehensive guide: “Riesling Rules.”

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The Chronicle Wine Selections, Domestic Riesling - San Francisco Chronicle

Brian — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:51:46 +0000

The San Francisco Chronicle reviews the 2006 Pacific Rim Dry Riesling, 2007 Pacific Rim Wallula VIneyard Riesling Biodynamic and the 2007 Pacific Rim Sweet Riesling.

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Toasts for Turkey Day - Good Housekeeping

Brian — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:00:34 +0000

The annual question: Which wines go best with the mouthwtering flavors - savory, tart, sweet, salty - of the holiday feast? Our answer: whites like Riesling…

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Divine Botrytis spreads

Nicolas — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:55:00 +0000

Harvest 2008 will be remembered as probably one of the coolest season in Eastern Washington in a long time. Our grapes are coming at low sugar (a good thing for lower alcohol), good flavor and high acid (which is great for Riesling in general). We are about 40% through picking we need to make serious strides in the next two weeks as we are drawing near the end of harvest.

One unattended consequence of this long cool hang time is the slow development of good botrytis. Good and divine Botrytis (as opposed to bad and evil botrytis aka sour rot) occurs when the botrytis fungus grows inside the grape berry and literally dries up the berry by using the water within resulting in a concentrated grape berry. Wines made from partially or completely botrytized harvest are among the most complex and delicious in the world.

This year I figure that about 15% of our berries have been dehydrated with botrytis and that bodes well for the complexity of our wines. We might even try a little TBA (for Trocken Beren Auslese: 100% botrytized harvest) for fun…

Riesling would like your attention, please - USA Today

Brian — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:36:12 +0000

Pacific Rim is part of a Riesling advocacy group that has put out a booklet to educate consumers.

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Wine Guide 2009 - Food & Wine

Brian — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:17:16 +0000

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Pacific Rim Authors “Riesling Rules” - Beverage Media

Brian — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:16:04 +0000

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Best Buy - Cooking Light

Brian — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:14:25 +0000

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Framboise is back

Nicolas — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 23:31:46 +0000

About five weeks ago we have received the raspberries from Mount Vernon that will make our Framboise this year. We have brought this reicipe out of the closet because we got so many folks calling asking for it. Well, it is back and I must say it is a very very delicious batch! We are one of the rare winery to make this type of wine/liqueur from fresh raspberries. I think it is because it is such a pain in the neck to make this type of beverage from fresh fruit rather than from concentrate. The reward for using fresh fruit is theintense raspberry flavor we extract during the making. It must be one of the most deliciously raspberrishly insane drink out there. We are now done with the infusion part of the making where we put the berries in contact with alcohol to extract the flavors and we now are settling the finished Framboise before filtration. If all goes well, we should have the Framboise out by Christmas time.

This is a picture of Scott, our Enologist, after a Framboise bath - Nice job Scott, it tastes great!

The team harvests in Eastern Washington

Nicolas — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:58:09 +0000

Meet the fearless Pacific Rim Sales team as they gathered last week in Eastern Washington for our annual sales meeting. They are quite a bunch!

September 23rd - cool weather

Nicolas — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:12:13 +0000

After a heat spell last week, we are back to cool weather this week (mid 70’s) with some really cold weather scheduled next Monday (we even might have a freeze that night). The acids are very high in all we have brought so far, though we only brought in 10% of our total production. We are working our way through our Sweet Riesling vineyards right now and all looks very good. I am a bit anxious about some cool sites, but I am sure I am not the only one out there.

South Africa and Riesling

Nicolas — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:50:06 +0000

From Cathy van Zyl MW. An interesting report from South Africa:The South African Wine & Spirit Board (SAWB) has agreed that Riesling, rather than Crouchen, is Riesling and that it may be bottled for sale in South Africa without the ‘Rhine’ or ‘Weisser’ prefix – but only from the 2010 harvest. While this is a major victory for the country’s ‘true’ Riesling producers who have lobbied for years for the change, they are perturbed by the fact that they have to wait another two years before the change comes into effect.

Writing to the Board’s Director of Regulatory Services, André Matthee, Chairman of the Just Riesling Association, Paul Cluver, said that while his members have no objection to the phased use of Riesling for Crouchen, they did not understand the reasoning behind delaying the correct naming of Riesling until 2010.

The current situation is that the variety internationally called ‘Riesling’ must in South Africa be prefixed by ‘Rhine’ or ‘Weisser’, while Crouchen can bear the name ‘Riesling’ unprefixed. It is also known in South Africa as ‘Cape Riesling’ or ‘Paarl Riesling’. The anomaly has logistical and economic implications for the country’s two dozen-odd Riesling producers who sell their wines locally and abroad; all wine sold internationally cannot be prefixed. Ironically, any Cape Riesling exported to the European Union must be labeled as Crouchen.

The Board, which administers the Wine of Origin Scheme introduced in South Africa in 1973, is recommending to the Minister of Agriculture that from the 2010 harvest, Crouchen may no longer be called Riesling and that Weisser Riesling/Rhine Riesling may be called Riesling on labels.

Crouchen is a neutral French grape mostly abandoned by growers there, as well as in Australia where it was called Clare Riesling, but it still constitutes about 3% of South Africa’s vineyards. There are less than 10 producers of Cape Riesling but the largest of these, industry giant Distell, has opposed the Just Riesling Association every step of the way as its Nederburg Paarl Riesling is a well-established brand among local consumers.

The Association’s request that its members be allowed to drop the prefixes with immediate effect was denied by the SAWB on 9 September 2008. Responding to Cluver’s letter, Matthee cited three major reasons why. In the first instance, bureaucratic processes need to be followed so that legislation could be amended. Further, the SAWB believes the phasing in period will limit confusion in the local market and comply with its duty to limit damages in respect of prior existing rights.

Owner of Klein Constantia, which sells a very good Rhine Riesling in South Africa and the same wine as Riesling abroad, Lowell Jooste, said the current situation “is bad for the industry”.

“Planning, ordering, bottling etc under the status quo is a nightmare because we do not know how much of our wine will be selling where,” he said. “We waste time and money, the very two things we need to watch extra carefully in the current economic climate. There’s also the chance that Parliament will not promulgate new legislation in time for the 2010, which means we’ll be out of line with the international wine community for another year, or more.”

Match Game: 2007 Wallula Riesling - Everyday with Rachel Ray

Brian — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:52:37 +0000

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Radio Canada interview

Nicolas — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:05:29 +0000

Attached is an interview on Radio Canada I gave last week. It is short and quite fun. Always interesting to hear your own voice on the radio.

Harvest in on

Nicolas — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:59:14 +0000

Well, here we are. We will probably start picking on friday the first lots for our sweet Riesling and for a super secret project (can’t talk about it quite yet). Acids are very high overall and the flavors are nice and crisp. Should be a terrific vintage.

We have started our first pied de cuve (yeast starter) yesterday.

Wallula Biodynamic 91pts - Patterson’s The Tasting Panel

Brian — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:53:19 +0000

A lovely biodynamic wine made in the Kabinett style…

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The International Riesling Foundation

Nicolas — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:26:10 +0000

We are very proud to host the taste scale freshly released this morning by the International Riesling Foundation (IRF) on our website: http://rieslingrules.com/the_book/irf/international-riesling-foundation-announces-riesling-taste-profile/. Pacific Rim has been a very active founding member of the IRF and we have done our part to contribute to the devellopment of this scale among with some 30 other Riesling producers from all around the world (we have the list included on our website). I want to salute here Dan Berger for his work and patience; trying to get wineries from 4 continents to agree on something was somewhat of a challenge. Also, all this could not have been done without Jim Tresize of the New York Wine Foundation - Thank you Dan, Thank you Jim.

Pacific Rim plans to use the visual scale and description on all its bottlings starting with the upcoming 2008 harvest. We are discussing keeping or not the residual sugar on the label in conjunction to the visual scale. If anyone has a strong opinon, please leave a post.

Riesling with a sense of place: Washington - Decanter

Brian — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:24:10 +0000

With the release of three single-vineyard Rieslings, Grahm and Quillé have become terroiristes - and serious ones at that.

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