My favourite grape.
Clear, very pale gold with a touch of green. Nose is medium intensity citrus—grapefruit and lemon—along with ripe apple/pear and a subtle grassy quality. Off dry, high acidity, and medium bodied, the palate is dominated by apricot, again with ripe apple and just a bit of citrus which comes through in the finish along with a hint of petrol. Medium length. 12.2% alcohol. This is a good BC Riesling; recommended. $21.70 at Crosstown. See Dirty Laundry.
Clear, pale gold. Nose is clean, medium intensity apricot-honey and slate-mineral. Just off-dry, high acidity, medium body. Green fruit dominates on the palette, with a bit of stone fruit and slate. Medium-plus length. 11% alcohol. Overall good: enjoyable, though the balance is a bit off, dominated by a lingering earthy minerality; perhaps will develop in the bottle. $22.90 at Marquis. See Momo Wines (currently converting to organic).
I somehow neglected to post notes on this one. I really enjoyed the 2007; the 2008 was also solid.
In the glass we have a clear, light-plus lemon-gold. The nose is, if I recall past vintages correctly, a bit of a departure from the Joie style: this seems to have a bit more of a European Riesling quality, more mineral, a bit of floral, and some citrus qualities, clean and medium intensity. Palate is off-dry, high acidity, and medium body. Honey and apricot, grapefruit, and a touch of an earthy-slate quality. Medium length with the sweetness and citrus dominating. 11% alcohol. It is straightforward, but very enjoyable; I think this is probably their best Riesling to date. Recommended.
$27 at Crosstown. See Joie Farms (warning: Flash, so won’t work on iPad; and required an upgrade the latest version for some reason, but still wouldn’t work in Safari—Joie, please do an HTML site!).
Clear, pale silver-gold appearance. Clean, medium intensity nose of honey, petrol, and spice. Almost medium sweet, straightforward apricot, honey, and slate on the palate. Medium body and length; high acidity. 8% alcohol. Overall good; a bit one-dimensional. $26.50 at Crosstown. See Reichsrat von Buhl.
Several people have suggested the Tantalus Riesling to me and I was a little underwhelmed, but I hadn’t tried the Old Vines. This is a clear, pale-plus lemon-gold with a clean, medium intensity lime, mineral, and petrol nose with a hint of sweetness. Dry on the palette, though, with high acidity. Medium body with green apple and mineral dominating with a touch of tropical fruit. Good long finish. Recommended; far superior to the regular Riesling from Tantalus. 12.1% alcohol. $30 at Taylorwood. See Tantalus Vineyards (warning: Flash); wine maker’s notes. Tantalus has gone organic, which is great news.
Clear pale gold; medium intensity stone fruit, floral, and honey nose. Off dry, medium body, high acidity; mineral, lemon, and apricot in the mouth. Good length. 12.5% alcohol. Very good—heartily recommended. $85 at Araxi in Whistler.
Clear, pale lemon-gold appearance. Nose is clean, medium intensity citrus-floral nose. Off-dry; high acidity, medium body. Mineral, lime, and spice flavours with that bit of Okanagan sage. Medium length; 12.9% alcohol. See Gray Monk; winemaker’s notes (PDF).
This was a gift from my father (as was the 2008) and retails for $16.99 according to the winemaker.
Clear, medium lemon-gold. Medium intensity nose of honey and mineral. Medium-sweet, high acidity, medium body; apricot-peach with a slate quality. 8.5% alcohol. Good length. Overall good. $39 at BC Liquor Signature, Alberni & Bute. See Selbach-Oster.
Clear, light lemon colour. Nose is clean, medium intensity petrol-mineral and citrus, with an undertone of stone fruit. Dry, high acidity light-plus body. Intense citrus and mineral in the mouth with a long lemony finish. 12% alcohol. A very nice French Riesling; recommended. $39.99 at Liberty Wine Merchants. See Domaine Mersiol.
Clear, pale gold appearance. Clean, medium-plus intensity lemon, mineral and spice on the nose. Dry, high acidity mineral, green apple, and a hint of petrol. 12.5% alcohol; good length. Overall good; a nice New Zealand Riesling. See Allan Scott Family Winemakers. $24 at Crosstown.
