Riesling Rules Book » 2009 » October

Riesling #1 growing major varietal in the US

Nicolas — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:05:45 +0000

Once again Riesling is on the top of the charts my friends. Looking over the the 13 weeks Nielsen data, Riesling is showing the fastest growth among all major varietals; Riesling is ahead of Chardonnay, White Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir and Sangiovese. Riesling is growing at 8.2% versus last year! Now Riesling is clearly a larger category than Zinfandel (believe it or not) and I would not be surprised if within 6 month Riesling takes over Syrah. Riesling now represents 2.5% of all wine sold in the USA which is about twice what it was 3 years ago. Much deserved growth for a fantastic varietal.

Pacific Rim and Cost Plus

Nicolas — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:54:21 +0000

Big thank you to Cost Plus for the great partnership and especially the great support during the holiday period. We already had our Dry Riesling nationally in all of Cost Plus’ stores and now we will have the Sweet Riesling as well. Additionally several States (CA, WA, OR, FL, TX, IL) will be carrying our White Flowers Sparkling Riesling for the holidays. At Pacific Rim we truly appreciate the opportunity that Cost Plus if offering smaller brands like us to expose our great wine on a national level. So, pick up a bottle of Pacific Rim at cost plus for the holidays!

When the Eastern Washington Grape heart stopped beatting

Nicolas — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:21:15 +0000

About two weeks ago we got a hard freeze in Eastern Washington (see this post) and we are still not sure what are the long term consequences of this unusual weather event. One fact we know is that the weather stopped the growing season – drop dead. Below is the current GDD chart (see this post about the exciting world of Growing Degree Days):

Here you can see that 2009 (the black line) was behaving much like 2003 (warm year standard in red) until the freeze in early October and from then on there no degree days that have been recorded and we might end up close to the long term average (in teal). Pretty dramatic, no?

Why Screwcap

Nicolas — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:56:27 +0000

A couple days ago I got a question from a friend asking about why we use screwcap. I guess I thought this was so evident that I almost did not know what to answer.

We use screwcap on all our wines (even our Autumnus Red). The only exception is for our white flower sparkling Riesling (I guess I cannot get over not having a “pop” when you open a bottle of bubbly). We chose screwcaps because really it is the only show in town as far as closure. Screwcap does not let any air inside the bottle (and that is very important especially for aromatic delicate wines), it preserves every bottle the same (cork, being a natural product is highly variable and is rarely “neutral”), it is guaranteed for 20 years (same length than cork) and of course is guaranteed 100% free of cork taint. The question I have for most wineries, is why are you using an inferior technology? the real answer is probably “that is the way we have done it for many years…”.

Hard frost

Nicolas — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:38:03 +0000

Alright, this is the end of harvest. It got down to 20F in the Yakima valley on Saturday night frying most vineyards. Thankfully we were watching the weather channel so we were ready for it. Pacific Rim should be done picking this Thursday. Usually we have up to 10 days after a hard forst to pick the grapes before they fall to the ground. I feel that we’ve dodged a bullet here! Thank you for weather forecasting…

Great quality this year made by a great team. I look forward to share the first wines with you all.

Riesling panel in Walla Walla

Nicolas — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:32:16 +0000

Yesterday I was sitting on a Riesling tasting panel in Walla Walla and we were comparing Riesling from some classic regions in the world versus Washington. It is clear in my mind that Washington has its own style and produces its own type of Riesling. Here are a few thoughts about the regions we have tasted yesterday that I have put down:

- Mosel: Great acid, large influence of Botrytis with great honey, waxy nose. Kabinett styles are the most distinctive from that region and they balance the acid very well. A very distinctive style.

- Australia (Clare Valley): Bone dry styles. Lots of lemon, some alcohol and often some petrol notes. Once again a very specific profile that one cannot miss.

- Alsace: Very mineral wines with some ripeness and body. Sometimes a hint of alcohol. Not always technically bone dry but tasting almost always dry .

- Washington: Rarely bone dry, often some sugar though always great acid to balance the sugar. More fruity than steely with Peach being a main component. Often in a wide range of sweetness.