WildAire Chehalem Mountain Vineyard Old Vine Riesling 2014
-
Wine
Enthusiast
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Enjoy pairing this bright white with grilled prawns.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
These vines date back to the mid-1970s and were originally planted by Dick Erath. This is their final vintage, as they've been removed. As a last hurrah it's a fine one, an intriguing melding of floral, mint and citrus components. With 13g/L residual sugar, it's just slightly off dry, with good palate penetration and superior length.
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.
The Chehalem Mountains is a northwest-southeast span of several distinct mountains, ridges and peaks in the northern part of the Willamette Valley. Of all of Willamette Valley's smaller AVAs, it is closest to the city of Portland. Its highest summit, Bald Peak at an elevation of 1,633 feet, serves to generate cooler air for the rest of the AVA and its hillside vineyards. The region covers 70,000 acres but only 1,600 acres are planted to vines; soils of the Chehalem Mountains are a mix of basalt, ocean sediment and loess.