What’s with the passive aggressive attitude? I thought Jerome’s post was a fair, even-mannered counterargument to your points. As to your other post:
"Yes. I was making two points in my replies: 1.) I think Belle Pente makes the best US Riesling, and 2.) if production volume and distribution was a factor in the question, Kung Fu Girl would be an good candidate. I never asserted it was better than the Finger Lakes Riesling I have had (and, again, I have had some). How is your experience with WA and OR Riesling?
If we were only to accept answers on these types of posts from folks who have deep experience with nearly all regions/interpretations of the wine in question, well, we’d have very few “qualified” respondents."
I think making blanket statements/broad generalizations like “Belle Pente makes the best US Riesling” opens yourself to the question of how deep your experience is with the various Riesling-producing regions of the US. Otherwise, what’s the point of making such a statement, and why should we take you seriously? It’s one thing if you haven’t tasted much Finger Lakes Riesling, but then if that’s the case I think some tempered comparisons are more appropriate than the sweeping judgment of the region as a whole that you were making.
Personally I’ve never tasted Kung Fu Girl, and as long as I can consciously avoid it, I will. To me, the label design and conceptualization of the wine name perpetuate deeply offensive “Orientalist” stereotypes with demeaning race/gender overtones. Whether in jest or not, I consider it to be in very bad taste.
I think it is notable that all of the following listed wines mentioned in this thread appear on the 101 greatest US wineries (per MSN- see the other thread).
Brooks, Boundary Breaks, Charles Smith, Chateau Grand Traverse, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Konstantin Frank, Navarro, Ravines, Red Newt, Smith Madrone, Stony Hill, Tatomer, and Two River.
2016 Grosset, Polish Hill Riesling, Clare Valley, Australia - bone dry, tense, steely, lime, lovely now but needs 10 years. I had some three days later and is was much more open but still austere
2006 Pewsey Vale Vineyard, The Contours Museum Reserve, Eden Valley, Australia - age provided beautiful texture, almost creamy and suggested oak influence (but of course there was none). Three days on it blossomed even more
2015 Dönnhoff Estate Riesling Trocken, Nahe - big fruit on the nose, teased of seeetness but with beautiful dry finish, peaches, apples and limes. The nose alone had this in the upper half of the tasting alone.
2015 Weigut Leitz Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling “Ehrenfels” Grosses Lage, Rheingau - subdued but gorgeous. Nothing stood out on the palate or nose, but there was a ton of complexity that urged you to sit and think about the layers and depth
2015 Ravines Wine Cellars Dry Riesling, Finger Lakes - lots of steeliness, a bit of chives and a touch of asparagus, some floral notes, nice but not in the same class as others in the lineup
2013 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Singerriedel Smaragd, Wachau, Austria - star of the show. Rich, complex and a wine you just want to keep smelling. Words don’t do it justice
2015 Trisaetum Vineyards Wichmann Dundee Estate Dry Riesling, Dundee Hills AVA, Oregon - flowers and fruit, wayvlighter in style than previous wine but the slightly sweet finish made it better after
2015 Domain Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Brand Grand Cru, Alsace Grand Cru - a bit hot, big and broad, bordering on unbalanced, nice but a bit to high-toned
2014 Hermann J. Wiemer Late Harvest Riesling, Finger Lakes - great fruit, peaches, apples, citrus, could use more acidity to balance the fruit and sweetness
2009 Joh. Jos. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Auslese, Mosel - SO2 wouldn’t blow off even after open for 24 hrs, gorgeous fruit perfectly bdosnceceitg acidity but that sulphur is a bit much to handle, a good candidate to lose in the cellar for another decade
2003 Basserman Jordan Deidesheimer Kieselberg Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese, Pfalz - unctuous, filled the room with sweet candies fruit aromas. Pretty much everyone’s favorite but in a class of its own
We also had a blind tasting after with:
2016 Pewsey Vale Riesling - linear. Slate and limes
2016 Leitz Riesling - beautiful fruit and acidity
2015 Plum Creek Riesling - up with Leitz as tops in the blind lineup
2015 Eroica - nice, a bit less complex than previous two
2016 Bookcliff Vineyards Riesling - odd (but nice) tropicalbnose filled with pineapple, mango and guava. Ok palate the Riesling character returned somewhat but still too sweet without the balancing acidity
Which Leitz? Base or Dragonstone? Just curious how even the most base German Riesling would perform against these American options. For sweet and off dry Reisling I just never found anything that can compare to the German options. For dry wines Australian and Australian versions do well, and Alsatian in a larger style, but for my taste I just always like Germany Rieslings far far better than any other options.
Right up there with the Finger Lakes producers is Galen Glen from Eastern PA. They were invited to the international Riesling Symposium several held every three years alternating between Germany, the US and Austraila.
They also do an outstanding job with Gruner Veltliner
Had a 1993 Stony Hill at the excellent Augustine Wine Bar back in May. From petrol to minerals, apple and honey, in harmony, it was a complete Joberg experience.
The only thing lacking was more–I got the last glass.
For sweet Riesling I’d have to go with the old late 1990s-early 2000s Arrowood Special Select Late Harvest Preston Ranch and Hoot Owl. We had a 1998 Hoot Owl recently that was really memorable. For the dry style, I’m with most of the folks here - Smith Madrone and Stony Hill have few competitors.
If history and legacy matter, Brooks in Oregon has to be on any short list. But admittedly I haven’t had any recent releases. Trisaetum has great riesling, highly complex stuff, lots of different bottlings; Bank Atcharawan (formerly of Lotus of Siam, a riesling expert) said they were the best in the US and Paul Gregutt wrote a piece calling them best in Oregon (at the time). Ovum is relatively new to the game but they are killing it, and the wines from them I’ve aged are evolving really, really nicely. Paetra has a great story and is a new board darling but I haven’t seen much of a track record yet. The few I’ve tried have been quite good. From WA I really like Efeste’s evergreen rieslings.
From NY/Finger lakes I’ve definitely enjoyed Red Newt and Konstantin Frank.
I’ve always found the West Coast Rieslings to be too Alcoholic. I grew up on German Rieslings, so 10% alcohol was perfect to show the pristine fruit structures. That’s why I love the East Coast Rieslings so much more. They have the slate, the low alcohols - the petrol on the richer ones - and the single vineyard bottlings from some of the top wineries are damn near phenomenal.
The best West Coast Rieslings I’ve ever had have been from Southern Oregon. Richard Sommer’s estate vines at his Hillcrest Vineyard was a terrific site for Rieslings. Back in the 80s/90s, they were as good as new world Riesling could get. Richard of course passed away and left quite a legacy at Hillcrest (a whole other story), but I met the new owners about 10-11 years ago, and tasted an estate Riesling from them that was superb as well - classic petrol/classic slate/classic green apple/nectarine notes -
A side note - some pretty amazing Cabernets came out of that old Hillcrest vineyard site as well -
It has to get an asterisk, but the best American Riesling I have ever had was the 2000 Chateau St. Michelle Loosen Single Berry Select. The 01 and 07 are also great. Truly bad QPR, and they are in the sticky genre, but they are fantastic.
Those old Arrowood sweet wines that a few mentioned were really good too and they still make the Saralee’s. Not sure about the others. Btw, if anyone gets a shot to taste some mid/late 70s Ch. St. Jean, do it.
For current non-sweet the common reccos of Navarro, Stony Hill, Smith Madrone are good, and I think Eroica at $15 on sale is a very drinkable wine.
NOT Kung Fu Girl! This is a great thread and one I’m following closely. Good luck with that definitive answer. It’s sitting right next to that unicorn over there (and, yes, I realize you’re being facetious).
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