Willamette Valley Vineyards, Willamette Valley – Oregon, Riesling 2008 This wine captures the essence of the SweeTarts I chewed on as a boy – great memories from nights at the movie theater then and a wonderful accompaniment to spicy food now. You could also liken it to hard candy of the green apple variety, where acidity and sweetness do their balancing dance.
The grapes were whole cluster pressed, as you do with sparkling, then fermented in stainless at 55 degrees for 8 weeks. The finished wine has 43 grams per litre residual sugar, a whopping 10.8 grams per litre TA and a just pH of 2.93 – the numbers reinforce the experience in the glass – delicious balance.
They hit a well-deserved home run at the Chronicle with this wine. P&B in Turner, a mere 10% alcohol and $14 a bottle at the winery, a media sample.