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2005 Dry Riesling Reserve

(new release May 2006)

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The Wine

Our dry riesling is produced in very limited quantities from selected lots from our Corral Creek and Stoller Vineyards. Our intent is to reflect ripe fruit that is highly focused with pinpoint acidity. This is a serious Riesling, not a quaffer, a big wine with brilliant, rich fruit, bright acid and a weighty palate. The acidity provides ageability and great structure, making it perfect with food and cleansing on the palate. It continues the viscous, intense, Alsatian-styled wines that our Pinot Gris Reserve starts; it is harvested late (almost always in November) with full ripeness and a touch of botrytis, giving the most intense dry Riesling we can make.

The Vineyards

Corral Creek was begun in 1983 by John and Diane Howieson, founders of Veritas Winery from whom the vineyard was purchased in 1995. A 25-acre vineyard predominantly planted to Pinot Noir, with grafts of Dijon Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, and, recently, Riesling, to augment the prime 1.1-acre block of 16-year-old Riesling sited on a low bench above Corral Creek. Soils are Laurelwood, a blown sedimentary loess soil series that, although low in elevation, is well drained.

Stoller Vineyards currently has a 1.5-acre block of riesling, grafted from Pinot blanc in 2001 in one of the highest elevation blocks. A south-sloping, 125-acre vineyard on a 350-acre parcel, Stoller Vineyards commands a dominating view of the southern end of the Red Hills of Dundee and is planted on jory soil. Newly grafted Riesling onto 2.7 acres of 108 Chardonnay at Ridgecrest and at a higher elevation of Corral Creek began to bear in 2004.

The Vintage

2005 was an old-style Oregon vintage, warming the cockles of the hearts of industry old folks like me as much as the coffee we drank. Cooler and damper than the average modern vintage, mature winemakers and mature vineyards understood and adjusted to the weather, giving the grapes a chance to fully ripen and working magic to assure clean fruit. Experience should show with our three classic estate vineyards. Great extraction, great acid, lower alcohols (no Pinots above the 13%s!)-expect wines of finesse and ageability.

Stats

Harvest Data:

Harvested 10/15/05 @ 18.9-22 brix, 3.04-3.14 pH, and 8.8-9.3 g/L TA, from 1.93-3.5 tons per acre cropload

Fermentation:

Tank fermented with three yeasts (VL3, SIHA 7, R2, 71-B) in small stainless vessels

Cooperage/Aging:

None

Bottling:

Cold stabilized, filtered and bottled 4/5-4/7/2006

Bottling Analyses:

13% alcohol, 8.5 g/L acid., 3.00 pH, 0.58% residual sugar

Cases Produced:

670

Suggested Retail:

$21

Release Date:

May 2006

Winemaker's Comments

The classic style of bone-dry Riesling we always make, only made more knife-edged in acidity. Platinum hue, with aromatics of white fruit, spiciness, and white blossoms that will open fully with time. The bright, cutting acidity and mineral elements contrast with a rich weight on the palate, complex peach undertones, and an extremely long finish. Wait until it gets some age. You may even want to try it in your dotage.

Quotes

winereviewonline, September 2006, Michael Franz: 90. Although Riesling remains a lead player in New York's Finger Lakes, it has been relegated to the second string (at best) by virtually all producers on the West Coast. This is one of the few exceptions, and an exemplary one at that. Vivid fruit shows lovely notes of peaches and tangerines, and though the fruit is so fresh that one could doubt the 'Dry' designation on the label, that doubt would be dispelled by the clean finish that results from a bracing blast of acidity. Delicious!

Wine Spectator, December 15, 2006, Harvey Steiman: 89. Dry, delicate and appealing for its green apple, lime and vaguely floral aromas and flavors, the lime and apple lingering on the finish.

The Oregonian, July 15, 2007, "Surviving Summer with Worthwhile Whites," Matt Kramer: This is impressively dense, austere riesling that displays a surprisingly mineral-inflected flavor, and it's flat-out delicious when paired with the likes of grilled sturgeon or salmon. Bone-dry and possessed of superb acidity, this is a riesling that will improve and become more flavor-resonant with upward of a decade's worth of aging in a cool cellar.

Sunset, June 2007, "Favorite Western Rieslings from $10 to $25: Take Another Look at the White That's Storming the West," Sara Schneider: A hint of orange blossoms, a whisper of sweetness, a layer of white peaches, pulled together with good acidity in the footprint of lime zest.