Already we are into the Chinese New Year – and this year it is the year of the dragon! What a great opportunity to talk Sweet Riesling – our best-selling Riesling adorned with a Dragon carrying a cauldron of fire on the label.

THE STYLE – The wine came out of a vision, the vision of a great American Kabinett. Of course we could not reproduce that style exactly (Eastern Washington weather and soils are not the Mosel) and we had to tweak things a bit to make a good wine years after years (more on this learning experience later). THE NAME – We also wanted this wine to talk to consumers; most Riesling wines just said “Riesling” and that drove us crazy: “how can consumers find a sweet Riesling if they all say just ‘Riesling’ on the label” – hence we came up with the name “Sweet Riesling” on our labels. At the beginning everyone (Distributors, large clients) told us we were crazy: “consumers do not like the word ‘sweet’ even if they like to drink ‘sweet’ – do not put ‘sweet’ on the label”. The popularity of this wine and the number of copycats since then (It always amazes me to see so many wine companies just copy one another) have proven that the “Sweet Riesling” wording was a winning ticket. THE DRAGON – The imagery was crystallized very early in our mind, we wanted an iconographic art piece that would clearly depict that this type of wine (low alcohol – high sugar – high acid) is made to go with spicy food – Sweet Riesling with hot/spicy food is a culinary experience that one cannot miss. An Asian dragon was perfect for this image – agile, light and deadly. Adding a cauldron of fire helped explain the great tension between a Sweet Riesling and hot food.
BACK TO THE STYLE – We knew we wanted a certain balance where high sugar levels would be balanced by high acidity. The first year we made the Sweet (2006), we’ve picked the grapes at the same time than the Dry Riesling and the acidity did not allow carrying more than 6% residual sugar – we thought: “need more acid”. 2007 brought a warmer harvest and we decided to pick early to keep our acids higher, we found out this was a great timing to harvest for that style and that same year we understood clearly that sugar alone was not enough of a parameter to pick grapes (I know we are a bit slow) – we also decided that we could do away with adding acid by simply picking earlier – yes! One less additive at the winery. What a revelation 2007 was, we’ve picked early, did not add acid and made a naturally balanced wine that tasted great. We narrowed on a slightly higher residual sugar level closer to 7% because now the wine could carry more sugar (and we love the tension between acid and sugar – that is what makes a great Riesling). In 2008 we’ve learned two more tricks; the first one was the use of native yeast and how well they worked for our wines. The second one was the importance of residual carbon dioxide in the bottle – we started obsessing about carbon dioxide and made sure that the residual carbon dioxide would be perfect at bottling. In 2009 we started to think about having a fraction of the blend coming from a botrytized vineyard – until then all our fruit was always clean and beautiful – to get complexity we had to find some botrytis and we’d decided to explore growing botrytized vineyard blocks (note – it does not work that well). We also started to understand deeply the relationship between our pH and the sensation of sweetness for the wines. 2009 brought also the first Sweet Riesling 100% fermented with native yeasts. 2010 gave us a LOT of botrytis. I was like mother nature heard our desire to get some Botrytis and said “you wanted some, here you go my friend” – I think this is my favorite vintage of Sweet Riesling (though the 2011 currently in tank is not shabby by any means), that year we really learned to work with Botrytis – all that rot is not all good. 2011 was similar to 2010, no major breakthrough this vintage. Every vintage brought its share of learning but after 6 vintages of Sweet Riesling we really are starting to get it down to a science – no acid addition, no yeast, pick early, keep your pH low, high residual carbon dioxide, some botrytis.

So for the year of the Dragon, remember to pick up a Sweet Riesling – a treat with Spicy food and now a great story to repeat at dinner time.

I was listening to the excellent Grape Radio featuring an interview with Louis Fabrice Latour (warning Grape Radio could be a bit intense for non wine nerds – consume at your own risk) and part of the conversation revolved around white wine maturity. Monsieur Latour had some great comments about how many people now do not understand older mature white wines especially as it relates to color. It seems that as soon as the color turns a little yellow many consumers – and experts – turn to the conclusion that the wine is oxydized and near total death. I was relating to many conversations I have had in the past with good clients about aged Riesling and how people are so darn sensitive to color and jump to conclusion – not everyone makes green Sauvignon Blanc to be drunk within 12 month! It did not use to be like this, great white Burgundies (the one that Louis Fabrice referred to), the great Rieslings, the great Chenin Blanc from the Loire, an old Bordeaux Blanc, they all turn yellow-yellow after 5 -6 years and if the wine is balanced (sometimes residual sugar helps a lot as well as a low pH/high acid combo), most experienced wine drinkers will consider those wines to be still young and very pleasurable. May be they are not youngsters and have developed more bottle bouquet, but by no mean they are dead. I would agree that some cheap white wines, aged under a lot of oak and often under a cheap natural cork – or a fake plastic cork (all great techniques for hyper oxygenation) can be oxidized and dead, but please do not jump to the conclusion that all yellow pigmented white wines are dead – you might be missing out on a great bottle of wine and another world of wine.

When you live and breathe Riesling, one of the recurring story that we talk about all the time is the many different types (read residual sugars) of Rieslings and how they all have a place at your wine table. This is a theme that we have tried to convey on the package of our main line of Riesling through the clear use of descriptors on the label such as “Dry” or “Sweet” because we want our customers to understand what they are buying (not a given in the wine business sometimes). For the record most folks out there told us we were crazy to use the word “Sweet” on a label and now you can see the numbers of wineries following our lead. Our leadership in this arena is also shown in the very early use of the International Riesling Foundation taste (sweetness) scale on all our Rieslings back labels – a scale that we’ve helped develop with Dan Berger and the team at the IRF.

Why all that matters would you ask? Well, it does matter (at least to us) because it is not always easy to convince some crowds to love, buy and sell several types of Rieslings. we have many cro-magnon folks out there that either think that all Rieslings are sweet and/or believe that sweet wines are waaayyy below them. Often those prehistoric thinkers believe that consumers needs to be categorized as a “cab drinker” or a “dry white drinker”; they love to categorize the world of drinkers like marketers categorize populations (by the way try the Claritas prizm marketing segmentation to see how those people like to categorize everything). If you are like me and enjoy many ways of life, you probably understand that there is a time for dry aromatic whites, a time for sweeter wines and a time for a red wine (OK, maybe not many occasion for red wines but I have to be open minded since this is what I am preaching). This is why I do not believe that most wine drinkers fall into one type of Riesling and that Riesling has to be sweet – I believe most people like many styles of Riesling though, I admit, wine drinkers might have a primary attachment to any given kind. There is a Riesling for Everything has we say at Pacific Rim that all have different Riesling for being.

Based on the unequivocal principle that all Riesling are not born equal and they are made for different occasions and food pairing, we are claiming that all decent wine lists and all decent wine shelves HAVE TO CARRY SEVERAL STYLES OF RIESLINGS and that, at a minimum, the price of entry in order to graduate from prehistoric behavior is to carry a Dry, a medium Dry (often just labeled “Riesling” in the USA) and a Sweet Riesling – 3 Rieslings for being. Note 1: a Sparkling and a dessert style in the set would be swell, but I won’t get mad at you for not having them – at least not yet. Note 2: Several Riesling regions (Mosel, Washington State, Eden Valley Australia etc…) would also be nice.

If you read this blog you should understand that they are many types of Rieslings out there and that they all have their own Riesling for being. This morning I came across a well written and funny post (http://swamiofumami.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-or-if-you-wear-underwear-may.html?spref=tw) that helped me connect a few sweet profile dots. I have been thinking a lot lately about sweetness levels, why so many, who likes dry vs sweet Rieslings, what food to pair with the different sugar levels etc… The main Riesling question I am trying to answer is: “do consumers like one sweetness style mainly, or do they like the diversity of styles”. This is not a trivial question for me because it would help us understand if we should try to sell different Rieslings to the same consumer or if consumers are well compartmented and mostly go for the same style. I came across several good articles lately that helped me understand that a large percentage (30 to 40%) of the US population (and probably of the whole planet) do not like dry alcoholic beverages, they like low alcohol, slightly or overtly sweet drinks and shy away from bitterness (by the way this is a bit of who I am, so this is close-to-home interesting) – this would be an indication that consumers have a certain taste profile and mostly stick to one style.  I have also read that those consumers prefer sweet beers (note that many beers have residual sugar and of course low alcohol) or cocktails (much sexier to order a Tequila Sunrise than a glass of White Zin!). Those consumers that like sweet wines (or if you are a mild case like me, that prefer wines with low alcohol and no bitterness) have been proven also to have a more sensitive palate (most of them are super tasters) that can be overwhelmed by too much bitterness or alcohol. Now the article I was referring to above is linking the consumer data with overall consumer behavior and it made so much sense to me – won’t comment on the underwear situation discussed in the article) – May be one day we could define you as a person by the type of Riesling you like and vice versa!

 Time to pick up on my favorite topic – Sweet vs Dry Riesling. I do not count how many conversations I have been part of where people HAVE TO give me their opinion about liking drier Riesling better than sweeter ones, or vice versa, or a version of that. Why do people like to pigeonhole themselves to ONE STYLE of Riesling is beyond my comprehension – yet they do it all the time. Well, folks, here is the news: you don’t have to have a favorite; you are authorized to like them all. Let me give you a piece of advice though, if you do not mind: Instead of freaking out about the Residual Sugar (or lack of) of your picture perfect Riesling, could you please focus on balance and pleasure.

You have to focus on balance because like most folks you probably do not care for monolithic beverages that can be a bit of a modern art statement (like a heavily oaked, low acidity Cab Sauv). First balancing act is the tension between acidity and sweetness – you need to be tricked: ya think it’s sweet, well – think twice – most important the wine never finishes sweet. Acid and Sugar are fun to play with and once you get it, you can’t get enough of this “trick me with sweetness” game. Second balancing act is the austerity of the wine – a tension between alcohol and phenolic content – a perfect wine will have the right amount of each so that it feels sophisticated but yet light and elegant (no high alcohol, dry bitter stuff please). Last balancing act are the aromas where youth and age are both present, where fermentation aromas and bottle bouquet play on one another. Check this out, out of all those important balancing acts (acidity-sweetness, alcohol-phenolic content, young-old aromas), sugar only comes once… Please do not reduce Riesling conversations to just sugar and STOP TELLING ME ALSATIAN RIESLINGS ARE DRY – they are not.

Pleasure is probably as important as balance in my mind. They are many sources of pleasure in wine tasting but the most powerful ones are not hedonistic pleasures (ie I like it or not), the most powerful are personal connections. I always like a wine more when I know who made it, why they made it, how they made it- I love context and wine without context is …. boring. When I taste a wine I have to learn more to make a call on its quality. How was the vintage, where are the vineyards located, why did the vintner choose to make this wine (for money of course, but there is always a deeper story that is worth seeking). The best wines I know are made by friends – just like the best cooking is either from my mom or my wife. You know what I am talking about, wine can talk to you on a deeper level than mineral water and if it does not talk to you at that level, then might as well drink vodka. Corollary: blind tastings are useless.

I don’t like sweet or dry Riesling – I like Riesling. I like Riesling because it is the only varietal that can play the full balance spectrum and that no one has pigeonholed into ONE MONOLITHIC STYLE. Riesling is the last varietal that can be free and different – let’s not fight over what it should be but let’s embrace it for what it brings to our ever more homogeneous wine world – Riesling Sherry anyone?

Guess what we drink abundantly during the holidays at my house: Riesling! Really, we drink a lot of Riesling – dry, sweet, very sweet bubbly, in whatever form it can come in. There are so many reasons why I love to make and drink Riesling and the holidays are a perfect time of the year to share why.

First, I like low alcohol wines because I enjoy sipping wine all evening long and I don’t like to be drunk (also I hate hangovers). Riesling fits that bill for me – 8.5% alcohol, I love it, 12.5% max, fine.

Second, the acidity of a Riesling fits any food (or at least I have never been trumped by a bad pairing yet). Consider the following holiday dishes (home made of course) in my house and my favorite Pacific Rim wine to pair it with:

- Holiday cocktail with Sparkling Riesling (with Framboise or on its own!)

- Crab cakes with Dry Riesling or with our new Riesling if accompanied by a spicy sauce

- Smoked trout cheese dip: Sweet Riesling here please!

- Foie Gras: Vin De Glaciere

- Choucroute (Sauerkraut + potatoes + various sausages): one of our single vineyards drier styles (Wallula or Solstice)

- Boeuf Bourguignon (alternate: Coq au Vin): Dry Riesling or Solstice

- Chocolate covered marzipan: Riesling Vin De Glaciere or Dauenhauer Riesling

- Tarte Tatin: Riesling Vin de Glaciere

See, there is really a Riesling for everything.

Third, I love to share and surprise people with Riesling. It is always fun to pour a Riesling to people that up front would say: “I don’t drink sweet wines” and then at their first sip  adding: “Oh, but this is good”

So what don’t you enjoy the holidays, surprise yourself and your family with some great Rieslings and start your new year resolution early: MUST DRINK MORE RIESLING IN 2011

Last week end was the biennium pilgrimage at the Riesling Rendez vous in Seattle hosted by Chateau St Michelle and Loosen wines. The event is a great oppotunity to meet many Riesling producers and to talk Riesling for three days. Of course there is much host propaganda during this event, but overall it is genuinely a good thing for Riesling in general.

The who’s who of the Riesling world was attending with some of my Riesling heroes: Clemens Busch, Andre Ostertag, Egon Muller, Etienne Hugel, Fred Loimer, Nik Weis, Stuart Pigott, Bruce Sanderson, Bruce Schoenfeld, Anne Trimbach and many more… So many great folks sharing one passion: Riesling.

I had many favorite wines but here are some of the highlights for me:

- GERMANY/MOSEL: Clemens Busch GG 2008 Marienburg: Some botrytis, acacia, very fruity and young, clean, very Mosel though quite dry ++++

- GERMANY/SAAR: Sankt Urbans Hof okfener bockstein: honey, jasmine, sl reductive, very complex, my type of wine +++1/2+

- GERMANY/MOSEL: Loosen Urziger Wurzgarten 2008: bit tight, botrytis, high end kabinett style, some greaty potential, sweet +++1/2+

- NEW ZEALAND/MALBOROUGH: Framingham 2009: Very nice, clean, jasmine, pleasant, sweet, german in style with a new world twist. Medium Sweet +++

- GERMANY/NAHE: Schafer Frolich Felseneck 2008 Spatlese: Sweet and wild ferment like, leather, cane sugar, elegant and racy. Very unique and modern. medium sweet. +++

- AUSTRIA/WACHAU: Domain Wachau 2008 Smaragd: Very floral, Austrian by birth, almost Gewurzt like, yeasty, hot and dry ++1/2+

- NEW ZEALAND/MALBOROUGH: Villa Maria 2009 Reserve: sl dusty, mineral, yeasty, very nice acid, on the sweeter end of dry ++

- FRANCE/ALSACE: Hugel 2004 “Jubilee”: buttery, some age and showing Alsatian, yellow hue, clean, some petrol, complex, dry ++

Those were the top wines but many more were great. Our Biodynamic Wallula showed very well in the Organic/Biodynamic panel!

We were hosting a biodynamic tasting at our offices in Portland. Pacific Rim was pouring a vertical of Wallula Vineyard Biodynamic Rieslings (picture above). This was an opportunity for me to taste through the first three vintages (2007-2008-2009) of the magnificent Wallula Vineyard and reflect on our winemaking and our progress. Remember that those wines are biodynamic wines (vs made from biodynamic grapes) which is pretty rare as I saw yesterday where most of the producers present were pouring made from biodynamic grapes wines. Nothing is added to those wines (no yeast, no acid, no nothing) and they are certified biodynamic. Wallula is probably one of the most thoughtful Riesling planting in the USA with a special trellis system, German clones and all biodynamically farmed (http://rieslingrules.com/the_book/about-our-wines/biodynamic-winemaking-at-pacific-rim/).

2007 Wallula Riesling BioD: It was our first year and were still learning about selecting the best rows and We might have picked a bit late. The resulting wine is very nice though may be missing some acid and it is rich in alcohol. It is rebalanced by a very low residual sugar (0.7%?). Overall a great wine but not the best we have made I would think. Would love to taste this in 5 years to see how it is aging.

2008 Wallula Riesling BioD: This was a cool vintage and also the first vintage we started to pick the grapes at different time (fractionnal picking). The wine was difficult to ferment and stuck at 1.2% residual sugar. It is a more complex version with some serious aging potential.

2009 Wallula Riesling BioD: Whao, may be our best vintage. It is zippy (we picked quite early) with a lower ethanol content (12.5%). We started to stop the fermentation early for a fraction of the blend so we could use that fraction to blend back into a dry fraction aged on lees. This technique  seems to be very appropriate for our conditions. This is a complex and hedgy wine. Very interesting and thoughtful.

Overall this was a solid line up and I could taste the vineyard through each wine. The common thread reflecting the site was the lovely floral nose of each wine. The  importance of the picking date and the amount of fractionnal picking (picking the same vineyard at different rippeness levels) really had a tremendous impact. I can’t wait to do a 10 year vertical with the press to taste what I think is one of the most thoughtful Riesling in North America.

The recent 89 points score in the wine spectator for our 2009 Sweet Riesling gave me the impulse for tasting through a vertical of Sweet Riesling from 2006 to 2009 (4 vintages). This would be since we’ve started making this wine. The inspiration for the Sweet Riesling came from German sweeter Rieslings that few people have been making in the US. We had to put a US twist on the wine due to our growing conditions (more sunlight, more heat…). I must say I am a bit curious to find out how they are holding up with age…

2006 Sweet Riesling – rated 88 points Wine Spectator (Harvey Steiman): Great pale color still for this older wine, nice nose, fresh as can be. Great acidity on this wine, aging very gracefully, still very young. This has still California fruit in it by the way so it has no appellation on the front. This is still a very serious Riesling – impressive and complex. pH: 2.96, TA: 0.81, RS: 7%

2007 Sweet Riesling – rated 89 points Wine Enthusiast (Paul Gregutt): Our first wine in our new winery in Eastern Washington. Color is quite gold, some more age character, nose is still fresh, very Riesling like, nice honey, feels a bit more phenolic. Not as nice as 2006, more Washington in style – less Germanic. Probably my least favorite right now. This is the first year we also lowered our total sulfite content – may be some correlation between the way it ages and the amount of preservative? pH: 2.97, TA: 0.81, RS: 6.8%

2008 Sweet Riesling – rated 89 points Wine Enthusiast (Paul Gregutt): Interesting nose, on the floral side, color is going the way of the 2007 but not quite golden yet, lively mouthfeel that makes the wine quite refreshing. In the same vein than 2007 though may be a tid bit more lively. Finishes quite dry with notes of botrytis. pH: 3.03, TA: 0.80, RS: 6.5%

2009 Sweet Riesling – rated 89 points Wine Spectator (Harvey Steiman): Great color, loaded with apricot, a very fine and fruity nose, fresh, nice acid, this is a dynamite wine, great acid, whao – Did we make that? pH: 2.99, TA: 0.72, RS: 7%

Overall I am very impressed with how those wines are holding. The 2007 is probably on its way down but the 2006 is still very lively (would be interesting to see how it will evolve in the next 12-24 months). I must say that 2009 is a very nice vintage and drinking just amazingly well right now. Fun exercise to line them up all like this – I’ll do that again soon with the Dry Riesling.

This week I gave a small talk in front of a group of importers at the winery in West Richland. One of my assignment was to give them an idea of where Washington fits in the Riesling world. I went on to describe what in my mind the major characteristics of most Rieslings are. As I was doing this, it came to my mind that I could use a frame work to place Rieslings in some type of matrix and that it would help me to relate where Washington fits in comparison to other regions. Here is the way it came to me after the fact:

1- Riesling’s purity: Riesling’s elegance can be rather quickly destroyed by a heavy handed style. Riesling has a form of compulsive shyness and as soon as it put in contrast with another aromatic element it leaves the stage (“sorry, you are big and obnoxious, you have fun without me”). It appears that Riesling does not respond well to oaking (the oak overshadow the fine aromatics of Riesling), Riesling does not like malo lactic fermentation (the milky/buttery tone resulting from this fermentation is also overpowering) and Riesling does not like to blended. Usually most Riesling in the world rank high in purity. I will use a scale from 1 to 3 (1 is low purity, 3 is high purity).

2- Riesling’s fine aromas and a few twists: In general Riesling’s aromas are very dependant on the harvest date. During the ripening season, Riesling’s primary aromas evolve from early citrus tones to floral notes to a ripe stone fruit pallet. The primary aromas can be altered by two very important factors in Riesling. The first one is the amount of Botrytis at the time of harvest that would introduce waxy, honey like flavors. The second one is the propensity for some Riesling to develop a gasoline/petrol nose as it ages.  A minor third one would be the possibility for the winemaker to do some lees aging introducing some yeasty notes and somewhat increasing the weight of a given Riesling. I will use a scale from 1 to 3 (1 is citrus, 2 is floral, 3 is stone fruit), I’ll add a B for Botrytis, P for Petrol and a Y for Yeasty.

3- Sugar – Acid tension: Riesling is a bloody tart varietal and often requires the use of sugar to rebalance the acid in some fashion. They are many styles of Rieslings that tilt that acid/sugar balance toward super dry or super sweet with everything in between (that is why we make 10 different Rieslings at Pacific Rim). This is where the International Riesling Foundation scale comes handy. There is no need to reinvent the wheel here, so I will use the IRF scale’s and rank wine from 1 to 5 (1: Dry, 2:Medium Dry, 3:Medium Sweet, 4:Sweet, 5:Dessert).

Now if I am to qualify some of our wine here is the way I would go:

- Dry Riesling: 3 – 2Y – 1. A pure Riesling with floral notes and some yeastiness tasting Dry.

- Sweet Riesling: 3 – 3 – 3: A pure Riesling with stone fruit notes tasting medium Sweet.

Now if I have to make a broad categorization of Riesling regions:

- Australian: 3 – 1P – 1. Pure Rieslings with citrus note, often some petrol, very dry

- Alsatian: 3 – 2P – 1. Pure Rieslings with floral note, often some petrol, dry

- Mosel: 3 – 2B – 3: Pure Riesling with floral notes, fair amount of Botrytis influence, medium Sweet

- Canadian Ice Wine: 3 – 3B – 5: Pure Riesling with stone fruit nose, botrytis influence, dessert style

- WA classic style (think Wallula, Poet’s Leap, Eroica): 3 – 2 – 2: Pure Riesling, floral aromas and medium Dry

- WA old style (Johannisberg): 3 – 3 – 3: Pure Riesling, stone fruit and medium sweet

Here is to my new nomenclature!

I am offically obcessed with the idea that Riesling can be a larger category than Syrah – that is only the first step to the global Riesling domination that we have plans for (hehehe). Looks like we have a shot at seeing Riesling passing Syrah before the end of the year and become the #8 varietal in the country. Right now the index shows the following rank among varietals (52 weeks ending 2/6/10):

- #1: Chardo: 25% MS (marketshare) growing at +2.5% – Yep, still a lot of growth at that size..

- #2: CabSauv: 16% MS +4.8% – American love story with CabSauv. Can we grow Gamay that fast? Surely is not foreign to the Malbec Growth (Malbec is not part of the topd ten and is about half the size of Riesling right now)

- #3: Merlot: 12% MS -1.9% – Keep losing steam. might never recover…

- #4: Pinot Grigio/Gris: 9% MS +3.7% – Wake up folks, this is not that great of a wine

- #5: Pinot Noir: 6% MS +7.3% – Amazing to see PN in #5 now…

- #6: White Zin: 6% MS +0.5% – Do me a favor, drink Riesling instead of this White Zin thing

- #7: Sauv Blanc: 5% MS +7.7% – This is the white we need to follow on the way up

- #8: Syrah: 4% MS -7.5% – Ouch, this varietal is just going back in the dog house

- #9: Riesling: 3% MS + 8.9% – #1 growth in the top ten. ‘nuf said

#10: Zinfandel: 3% MS +3.7% – Yes, Riesling is bigger than Zinfandel

We are releasing a new Riesling – we have now up to 10 different Rieslings in our lineup . This new release is a 2009 Riesling that we made in what I would call the “traditional” Johannisberg style (I know, I know, we are not supposed to use this term anymore). So, what is a “J” style? Well, J’s were usually bout 2% residual sugar Riesling and picked around 22.5 Brix (Auslese ripeness level) with about 12.5% of ethanol. It was and still is today the most proeminent style in Washington State. Our version of this American favorute is slightly different (of course) in the way that it is about 2.3% residual sugar and 11.5% ethanol therefore picked at 21.5 Brix (a ripe spatlese ripeness level). Like all of our Rieslings we like to pick grapes earlier than most folks in order to contribute a lot of natural acidity to balance the sugar and also to keep a lower alcohol content. The grapes come from the Yakima Valley, a cooler climate more appropriate for this style I believe. The wine is very fruity (think mango, guava, apricot with a hint of floral notes) and refreshing, a nice addition to the portfolio that does not replicate any other Riesling we make. When I was looking at the Riesling line up a few weeks ago it dawned on me that we have a geometric RS series in our portfolio: 0-2-4-8-16! 0% RS is our Dry Riesling, 2% RS is our new Riesling, 4% RS is our Riesling made from organic grapes, 8% is our sweet Riesling and 16% is our Riesling Vin De Glaciere Selenium Vineyard. Pretty fun, no? Riesling is really enjoying a true rennaissance in this country (likethe Phoenix on this label) and we are proud to be part of it.