Tried this wine w/ friends at Brunch on Sat morning:
1. BrotrytisWineCo Riesling Auslese HylandVnyd/OR AlteReben (6%-7%??; pH: 2.86, TA: 0.92 gm/100ml; RS: 8.0 gm/100ml; U) NolenEllis/Newberg 2019: Light gold slightly cloudy color; rather fragrant floral/R/ripe peach light botrytis/peachy some mineral lovely aromatic restrained nose; quite tart/tangy light ripe pear/peach/bit botrytis rather floral/R/mango fairly sweet bit understated balanced slight mineral quite pretty/lovely flavor; very long/lingering ripe peach/light botrytis/apricotty strong R/mango/floral fairly sweet rather tart/tangy balanced elegant/restrained some complex finish; the botrytis is rather subdued but the sweetness is in great balance w/ all the acidity, avoiding any sweet/sour character; quite a lovely ripe R that will only get better w/ age and probably go out 10 yrs at least. $nc (NE)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. About a month ago, NolenEllis, cellarmaster at Penner-Ash, was driving from OR thru NM on his way to Houston,TX. He gifted me w/ 4 P-A wines (which were terrific; especially the P-A OldVine HylandVnyd Riesling '19), plus two btls of this Auslese Riesling.
The first thing that struck me from the label was the incredible high acids in this wine & I was expecting it to be pretty screechy on the palate. But the high level of RS managed to bring the wine into very good balance on the palate w/o straying into sweet/sour territory as many of them can. I was expecting the botrytis to be stronger in character, but it was fairly low-key. The wine actually reminded me a lot of that first Wente Riesling ArroyoSecco Spatlese '72, which actually evolved into a beautiful wine with 10-15 yrs of age. I fully expect this wine will put on more weight/intensity w/ several yrs in the btl and probably go out 10 yrs and longer.
The (unreleased) P-A Riesling '19 showed a striking degree of minerality & savory character. The ripeness of these grapes probably contributed to the low-level of minerality in this wine.
Anyway, I think this is a very interesting expression of Riesling and will dramatically improve with age.
Tom