Wine Notes

Riesling

Riesling is one of those passion wines for us. It deserves much more attention than it traditionally gets in the market and we, with several other wineries, aim to change its perception in the marketplace. To us it is the white wine most reflective of climate and site (read the "t" word here), sort of the Pinot noir of white wines. How do you jumpstart a variety that consumers don't take seriously? Vintages like 2001 in Germany help. For Chehalem, we have been rapidly raising the quality bar for our riesling, since beginning fortuitously on a great site at Corral Creek in 1995, quietly gaining an almost cult following among consumers and respect from critics. Recently we have shifted into a higher gear, grafting additional acres of vines over to riesling in all three vineyards, with plans to plant new clones on Ribbon Ridge as Wind Ridge Vineyards is developed. Better and better, world-class wines and more of them.