Medium clear yellow appearance. Nice lemon-petrol nose. Very earthy palate with strong lemon notes and a hint of citrus; nice acidity. Very distinctive, and unlike many of the recent, mostly German, Rieslings I’ve tried. I quite enjoy this one; recommended, particularly at the price, about $20 Canadian.
2006 Lang Farm Winery Reserve Riesling
Pale gold appearance; medium intensity apricot nose with obvious sweetness. Slightly low acidity but good body and a nice apple quality with that appealing Riesling sugar on the palate and a good finish. This is, along with the Joie 2007, a promising signal for BC Rieslings. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find; I bought it at the vineyard in Naramata. Lang Vineyards.
Bird in Hand Riesling 2006
Light silver-gold appearance. Medium, classic slate-petrol Riesling nose. Dry, medium body with good acidity; mineral, lime, and apple notes. Quite good, but overpriced at $30 from Kitsilano Wine Cellar.
2006 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Le Chant de La Mer Sur Lie
Clear light silver appearance. A fascinating (I don’t drink Muscadet) light lemon-grapefruit nose and a hint of almond. Dry with great acidity, tart lemon, and excellent finish. Very nice!
Markus Molitor 2001 Zeltinger Himmelreich Spätlese Riesling
Clear, medium lemon appearance. Wonderful intense apricot-honey nose. Very nice balance, excellent acidity against significant minerality; strong sweetness and fine body. An excellent wine, highly recommended. Weingut Markus Molitor.
Jean Latour-Labille & Fils Bourgogne Chardonnay 2006
I’ve gone off Chardonnay a bit recently (as have many others, from what I’ve read), but this was a staff pick at Kits Wine Cellar, so I thought I’d give it a try. Clear light lemon-gold appearance; classic Chardonnay nose with nut and oak qualities. Strong acidity with tasteful oaking; pretty one-dimensional, though. Good body and length.
Kees-Kieren Mia Lieblich QbA Riesling 2006
Another bottle I picked up at Nancy’s Wines for Food in New York.
Clear, medium gold appearance. Nice apricot-petrol nose. Good acidity balancing earthy sweet honey qualities. Excellent.
Poet’s Leap Riesling 2006
A birthday gift from my wife, bought on my first visit to Everything Wine in North Vancouver.
Clear, pale silver-gold appearance. Straightforward Riesling nose with honey, melon, and slate qualities. Good body. But the apricot-honey palate seems to be working somewhat in opposition to the acidity, and a bit of lingering minerality in the length disappoints slightly. Still, a nice drinkable Riesling.
Blasted Church Hatfield’s Fuse 2007
I tried the 2006 a couple of weeks back and quite liked it. Same silver-gold appearance; more of a Pinot-sage nose, with strong grapefruit qualities. Good acidity with strong citrus fruit palate; lime and grapefruit dominate. Quite nice, and quite different than the 2006.
Markus Molitor 2003 Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese Riesling
Medium lemon-gold appearance. Clean, light nose with apricot-pear qualities. Medium body with nice acidity and nice balance of sweetness and fruit flavours with mineral and floral notes. Very good.