Serious Eats: Drinks
Riesling Report: Hermann J. Wiemer Late Harvest Riesling 2009
July is riesling month! We're drinking it all month long...and maybe longer. Got a favorite riesling? Recommend it in the comments!
This Finger Lakes Spätlese-style riesling is so lively, so full of tangy, twangy acidity that your tongue curls a bit your your mouth. It's tasty stuff.
Up front, this wine tastes like powdered sugar sprinkled on top of lemon bars, but it has a bright splash of acidity that draws you through each sip. There's a pillow of fruit resting on a sharp gravelly outcropping—prominent green apple and lemon taffy (with secretive stone fruit) balancing on a mineral edge. It's about 2/3 fruit, 1/3 rocks. You're left with long, lingering tartness.
This wine could handle Thanksgiving food; it's a bit autumnal, really, and has the gentle richness to cope with stuffing, sweet potatoes, and a burnished, crisp-skinned turkey. If you would reach for Chardonnay in that setting, this is in many ways a better choice, given its heft but low alcohol (9.1%!), its tart freshness and lack of oak.
Around $20, sample provided for review.
More Riesling Reports
From Germany:
Stein Blauschiefer Riesling Trocken 2009 »
Weingut Immich-Batterieberg C.A.I. Riesling 2009 »
S.A. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 2006 »
From Austria:
Schloss Gobelsburg Riesling 'Gobelsburger', 2010 »
Weingut Jäger Riesling Smaragd Ried Achleiten 2009 »
From Italy:
St Michael-Eppan Montiggl Riesling 2009, Alto Adige »
