TN: Kaitel Riesling ZabalaVnyd '16...(short/boring)

WINE TALK
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Tried last night this Riesling:

  1. KaitelWines Riesling ZabalaVnyds/MontereyCnty (11.86%; 100% Dry; www.KaitelWines.com) KaiTelWines/Healdsburg 2016: Med.light gold color w/ some bubbles that dissapate rapidly; strong Mosel valve oil/petrol some R/mango/pineapple slight steely/flinty beautiful R nose; quite tart/tangy/metallic/steely some pungent/petrol/valve oil some R/mango/pineapple bit rich lovely flavor; very long/lingering quite tart/tangy/steely rather petrol/pungent/valve oil some mango/R/pineapple/floral bit stony/mineral some complex finish; an absolute compelling very Germanic expression of Calif R; has a bracing acidity but a richness that keeps it from tasting lean & eviscerated; reminds a lot of some of the early DougMeador/Ventana R he made in the late '70’s/early '80’s; beautiful wine. $30.00 (CB)

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. This was a wine I found on the shelf at CortiBros last Fall. Never heard of this producer, but Darrell urged me to try it, so I finally did. I was mightly impressed. Back in the late '70’s, Doug Meador made some excellent Rieslings from his VentanaVnyd. This was easily better than any Doug made from ArroyoSecco. Doug seldom gets the credit he deserves for teaching people how to grow grapes in the SalinasVlly.
    Tom
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Hello Tom,
Thank you very much for trying my wine and your feedback. Truly honored and humbled. Mr. Corti is a super knowledgeable person and his store has been great source for Riesling especially ones with age.

I started my winery in 2016 and Zabala was the fruit I was offered by Ryan Stirm, Stirm Wines, before I even setup my business. Sometimes the universe shows you the way and who is going to help you. Unfortunately, this wine is sold out. Oh, how I wish had more of this wine.

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Thanks for chiming in here, Vamsi.
Calif Riesling doesn’t get the respect it truly deserves. There’s a lot of really good/interesting being made in Calif these days. But, since they don’t taste like
Mosel Riesling, people tend to discount them.
Does Ryan make a Riesling from Zabala as well? Didn’t see it on his WebSite.
Too bad few people had the opportunity to taste those old SCM Rieslings from DaveBennion/Ridge and DavidBruce. With age, they could be
exceptional. But definitely not German.
Tom