So this weekend I needed to buy a cheap white wine for cooking--half a bottle was going to end up in a terrine de Bourgogne--Jambon Persille.
It was a harder choice than I thought it would be. Didn't want woody, didn't want sweet, and those two descriptors apply pretty much across the board in the $10 and under landscape around here. A cheap aligote would have been ideal, but that's nonexistent where I was shopping. And in truth, grape would end up being fairly immaterial as all that would survive the hour-long simmer with meat and aromatics would be a winey background flavor. Finally, color became the deciding factor: I wanted the clearest, palest wine possible for the bonding gelatine. So for $9, I chose:
2021 Chateau Ste. Michelle Dry Riesling
I'm well aware of the reputation for this wine. It's CSM's highest production wine, and most of it ends up south of the equator. I believe I recall David Bueker once paying $28/glass in Singapore, or some such. It's not something I buy but over the years I've had it a few times and each time I've been impressed by how well it represents, especially for the meager price. n this case, half the bottle went into my dish, and we had the rest later before dinner.
Tasted out of burg bowls where flaws don't easily hide, this one had an interesting light ginger-snap, gewurz-like spice to it that I don't remember from prior experiences with this wine. On the mid-palate it veered toward off-dry but finished clean and dry in the end with a clove-like kick, and it had more body than I expected. Have to admit, where gewurz type spice isn't what I typically go for I really liked tha here and couldn't help but think how well that would show with the spicy Asian food I've been lovin' on lately or a sauerkraut-based dish. I would actually--GARK!--buy this again for just that purpose.