Let's Talk Riesling

Oregon Magazine ^ | November 1, 2002 | Fred Delkin

[WaterDragon]

Riesling was planted in Oregon vineyards as our industry developed at the end of the sixties. It was an easy grape to grow here, but the wines produced pleased the unsophisticated consumer and turned more worldly types away with their tendency to sweetness without the benefit of the acidity transmitted by rocky slopes as in Germany.

A majority of Oregon winemakers soon abandoned riesling production and moved to Chardonnay plantings. However, the Oregon industry has now realized that northern Oregon growing conditions are ideal for the white "cousins" of our popular Pinot Noir...Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. These varietals as produced in Oregon are reaching a "world class" status impossible to achieve anywhere else outside a narrow region in Germany, Alsace and Switzerland....(snip)

For Complete Article Please Click Here!

[uglybiker]

PING!

[WaterDragon]

A world class Riesling produced in our Pacific Northwest! No need to purchase from anti-American Germany!

[jellybean]

What are some of the brands? Are they available outside of Oregon?

Riesling bump!!

[WaterDragon]

Did you check the article? Yes, they're available anywhere in the country!

[NYpeanut]

New York contenders: Dr. Konstantin Frank’s Vinifera and Chateau LaFayette, yum. No Euro-trash wine in this house.

[WaterDragon]

Brands are listed a little further down in the article.

[Victor]

"....No Euro-trash wine in this house......"

Yup, same here. Home made wine from California (read USA) grapes.It's a beautiful thing....

[BlazingArizona]

Is it true that in Oregon you can't pour your own drinks?

[uglybiker]

The only northwest reisling I can find with any regularity around here is Chateau St. Michelle and it comes from Wahsington. Although produced in vast quantities, it's not too bad.

I like pinot gris, too, when I can find it. I need to find a decent wine shop.

[WaterDragon]

Blazing, I think that is true.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

In Indiana, you are not allowed to carry your drink from a bar to your dinner table (in a public place).

[sam_paine]

In Texas, there's dozens of different liquor licenses. If a place does not have a hard liquor license, you may bring in your own bottle...even if they serve beer and wine. And you can always bring your own wine...though most places will charge you an exhorbitant opening fee. However, the law and license mess is so complex and confusing (since there are dozens of different license levels...) that many times punk kids who aren't even old enough to drink will argue with you about what's legal and what's not.

[uglybiker]

No boxes.

No screw tops either.

[strela]

Is it true that in Oregon you can't pour your own drinks?

I know you can't pump your own gas there. Not sure about the drink thing though.

[Happygal]

I need to find a decent wine shop.

I'm on vacation in Canada at the moment, and I was just thinking the exact same thing :-)

[Clemenza]

I LOVE Oregon Pinot Noir. myself. The wine industry here in New York produces decent (though not outstanding) Cabernet Franc out on the North Fork of Long Island.

[Slyfox]

You can't pump your own gas in Oregon either. Imagine my surprise when I entered OR, stopped to get gas and the attendant, after I already had the nozzle in my tank, tells me that what I was doing was illegal.

On second thought I kinda like having someone elase pump my gas for me. But for it to be illegal. Geesh.

[Verginius Rufus]

George Radanovich, a conservative Republican Congressman from California, has a winery in Mariposa County, CA, Radanovich Winery, which produces merlot, chardonnay, zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, and sauvignon blanc. It's a pretty small operation (4,000 cases annually as of 1997) so I don't know if the wines are available outside the immediate area.

[willyboyishere]

Can someone help me out here? The most delicious wine I ever tasted was brought over to our house by some guests
about 7 years ago. All I remember is that it was New York State wine, and was a 50-50 mixture of Chardonnay and Reisling. I kept the empty bottle in the basement for quite a while, so I'd have a reference with which to look for it,
but eventually it got lost. So I'm (not) high and (literally) dry. Anybody know of this wine or possible the name or names of NY wineries?

[uglybiker]

Well, since you're so close, why not sneak down to Arizona and I'll whip up a batch o' Irish Cream? :-P

[Revolting cat!]

What are some of the brands?

Thunderbird and Night Express are a couple of the classier ones!

[NordP]

Sounds like great news for the Pacific Northwest wine industry; however....waaaay tooooo sweet for my taste.

[jellybean]

New York Wineries

[WaterDragon]

BTTT!

[snopercod]

I like Mondavi Coastal Johannesburg Riesling. About $9 per bottle here in NC. I assume it's from California, but not sure.

[snopercod]

Oh, and Michigan has some really tasty Rieslings. This one is great, IMHO:

CHATEAU GRAND TRAVERSE

[irishtenor]

Where do you live?

[Snuffington]

I've tasted a lot of German Riesling. Unlike French and Italian wine, the fantastic decade of the 90's did not result in balooning prices, largely because German Riesling is not considered a "fashionable" wine. Wine snobs avoided the bad image, leaving the terrific wine to the rest of us.

I have tried a lot of California, Washington, and Oregon Riesling, and so far nothing, regardless of price, has matched an average one from Germany. And Alsatian Riesling is even better than German - though the prices there are much higher.

I'm glad to see some American wine makers are finally trying to make good Riesling. I've long thought we had the right climate and soil if only someone would take the time to do it properly.

[sinkspur]

Unlike French and Italian wine, the fantastic decade of the 90's did not result in balooning prices, largely because German Riesling is not considered a "fashionable" wine.

ALL German wines, American Rieslings and Gewertztraminers are "sweet," and are usually not considered serious wines, let alone "fashionable."

To each his own, however. I would drink a Trochenberenauslese or Late Harvest Spatlese as an aperitif, and enjoy it immensely.

[Snuffington]

ALL German wines, American Rieslings and Gewertztraminers are "sweet," and are usually not considered serious wines, let alone "fashionable."

There are loads of excellent dry German Rieslings (not to mention the sensational Alsatian Rieslings and Gewurz). They're routinely rated among the best in the wine press, but popular conceptions that they're not "serious" wine persists.

However, keep preaching that sort of stuff sink. If the word gets out, the price might rise. I'm perfectly happy with the status quo. :-)

(Incidentally, their American versions sadly deserve their inferior reputation in my experience so far.)

[sinkspur]

There are loads of excellent dry German Rieslings (not to mention the sensational Alsatian Rieslings and Gewurz)

Well, I'll take your word for it, as none of the Alsatians I've tasted could hold a candle to a good California Chardonnay or Fume Blanc. Too sweet for my tastes.

But, as I said, to each his own. I love wine, and am glad so many others do as well. The vintner's product is one of the delights of life!

[Snuffington]

Well, I'll take your word for it, as none of the Alsatians I've tasted could hold a candle to a good California Chardonnay or Fume Blanc.

Like you said... to each his own. 90 percent of the California Chardonnay and Fume I've tasted is like sucking on an oak 2 X 4 (as I've heard it described - "oak - the MSG of the wine world"). I got tired of paying 40 dollars a bottle for California chardonnay that was indistinguishable from 15 dollar a bottle California Chardonnay. The non-oaked stuff from New Zealand kills the stuff from California at a fraction of the price, particularly the Sauvignon Blanc. But since the climate is so different, it's not exactly an apples to apples comparison.

Of course, as I keep trying to explain to my non-wine drinking friends, the only real test of a wine is whether or not you like it.