I was looking at the lastest Nielsen data and there was plenty of good news for Riesling lovers (and for our winery) in this report. First, overall white wines have been growing faster than reds over the past 13 weeks and 52 weeks (3.7% vs 2.4% and 4.0% vs 3.5% respectively) – good to see some love for the whites. Second, domestic wines are making a huge comeback (is this price driven due to a not so favorable exchange rate? is it a “buying domestic” trend that is often seen during recessions?); 4.9% growth for domestic wines (52 weeks) ve 0.1% growth for imports. Finally, among major varietal, Riesling is still the fastest growing varietal (+9.5% 13 weeks and +8.5% 52 weeks) ahead of Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. Now Riesling sales are about a third of Pinot gris/pinot grigio!

The ice cold temperature is not bad for everyone, at least not for Pacific Rim. As you might remember, we had left some grapes in the field this year in the hope of making a TBA of sort i.e. a botrytized wine better known as noble rot wine. It got too cold to produce a 100% Botrytis wine (though we got a good amount of botrytis) and in exchange we are getting several nights below 10F which is allowing us to make a true ice wine this year! We just got done picking today and received 6 tons of frozen grapes with lots of botrytis (yum yum). We are pressing tomorrow morning and we hope to get 500 gallons of the precious high Brix, complex juice. This should be a very very interesting wine (and yes another style of Riesling). A picture of the vineyard yesterday is above – amazing that such a odd looking bunch produces such an amazing wine.

Our first effort at making a sparkling Riesling has been rewarded by an overwhelming demand for the wine and zip! we are out of it at the winery (you will still probably find it in retail accross the country). This is very rewarding to see that this delicate wine has been received with such enthusiasm by everyone (by the way thank you to Beverage Dynamics Magazine for rating the Sparkling White Flowers 91 points!). I have saved 10 bottles for the holidays for my own cellar (should be barely enough to carry us to the next bottling in January…). Making this wine was a bit of a bet because of the style we went for (Dryish and fruity) and the fact that it is clearly labeled as a Riesling. Never fear! you were out there to support our creative effort and this new style in the market place. We are now working on our next bottling in January – so stay tuned for more bubbles.