Beast Wallula Vineyard Sphinx Riesling 2012
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Other Vintages
2010-
Wine
Enthusiast
Beast wines are very limited, single vineyard offerings. These wines are uunique interpretations of new varietals and vineyards with the same great winemaking care and attention as Buty wines.
Buty's philosophy of winemaking reflects the old religious worldview of human growth from body to mind to soul to spirit, called "the great nest of being." The all inclusive nest of being grows over time as they reach for the spiritual levels of life. So too, Buty wines evolve including and expanding their quality at each stage of their development. Our wine’s development is a cumulative and artistic process. Every stage of growth is equally important for a fine wine, starting with a great site developed into a vineyard, from fruit into wine, from cellared bottles to our enjoyment at a shared meal. A great wine calls for complete attention as we expand the qualities present at every stage.
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.