WTN: Two Rieslings...(short/boring)

Tried these two over the weekend:
1. OjaiVnyd Riesling KickOnRanch/SantaBarbaraCnty (13.0%) 2007:Med.gold color; beautiful fragrant/floral/pineapple/mango/R quite mineral/Mosel valve oil/petrol complex very Germanic nose; fairly tart rather rich/lush dry strong mango/pineapple/R slight mineral/stony/valve oil/petrol slight tangy/grapefruit bit complex rather Germanic/Pfalz flavor; med. bit tangy/grapefruity/metallic some mango/pineapple/R slight mineral/valve oil finish; a lovely very Germanic R nose but doesn't quite deliver as much on the palate; much like a Pfalz halbtrocken.$23.00
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2. vonWinning Riesling Deidesheim/Pfalz (Q; Abfuller; A.P.Nr. 5 106 327 057 12; 12.5%) 2011: Light gold color; attractive ripe/mango/R/pineapple slight chalky/earthy/stony bit smoked hot dog slight floral nose; soft ripe/R/mango/pineapple attractive slight chalky/stony/mineral fairly lush/ripe off-dry flavor; med.long ripe/mango/pineapple/R off-dry bit chalky/stony fnish; quite a nice R for drinking near term. $19.00 (AV)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This was Adam's first stab at Riesling. At release, it had a pretty screechy acidity on the palate to it and was not that attractive. But it has smoothed out quite a lot and developed some wonderful aromatics.
The vonWinning is not a producer with whom I'm familiar. A TerryTheise wine. Also quite nice.
Note that both of these scored a 91. Which did I like better?? The Ojai...easily. It's hard to drink an Ojai w/o it bringing to mind some wonderful afternoons sitting at the picnic table out in the shade and watching Benjamin & Henry riding their bikes out on the crush pad. They're probably doing surfboards/skateboards by now. As NealRosenthal says.."the finest of wines pave the path to memory".
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

Don't tell Bill Hooper you preferred the Ojai...

Don't tell Bill Hooper you preferred the Ojai...

Not at all. I haven't tasted that wine, or truth be told, many US Rieslings, but in fact I would expect (hope) that a 'serious' Riesling producer (is Ojai that? I have no idea) from most places could, with their 'top' estate-grown Riesling, out-class the entry-level wine from another producer from most places. The von Winning is made from purchased fruit and is the cheapest wine that they make (or fill into bottles if you prefer.) Riesling costs less than 1.20€/liter on the bulk market in Germany (vW may very well have paid a little bit more for this wine, but certainly not much).

Cheers,
Bill

[David M. Bueker]

Apparently my note was not dripping with enough sarcasm.

I've tasted a lot of USA Rieslings, and frankly other than a small sample, they generally fail to meet the quality level of some very inexpensive German versions. I have no idea if the Ojai is an exception to that for me, as I have not tasted it...yet.

Apparently my note was not dripping with enough sarcasm.
I've tasted a lot of USA Rieslings, and frankly other than a small sample, they generally fail to meet the quality level of some very inexpensive German versions. I have no idea if the Ojai is an exception to that for me, as I have not tasted it...yet.

Yup......I got it, David.
And your statement, in general, about Calif Rieslings is pretty much spot-on w/ my experience.
Most of the Calif (and WashState) versions are simple/little/tutti-fruiti renditions of Riesling. That's what struck me
about this Ojai...it had a bit of the petrol/Mosel valve oil that you seldom find in Calif R.
Adam's more recent R have a pretty screechy acidity to them on the palate...which I think bodes well for them
to age into something interesting.
But almost always, the bottom tier GermanRieslings ($15-$30) deliver the goods better than any from the USofA.
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

Bill,

Some of the NA Rieslings that are worth seeking out include Navarro (everything from their dry to the TBA styled Cluster Select Late Harvest), Chateau Ste. Michell's Eroica made in cooperaiton with Ernie Loosen (not my favorite but it is high quality) and Hermann J. Wiemer from the Finger Lakes.

All of them can compete with European versions. The Navarro Cluster Select Late Harvest is a truly age worthy, world class wine.