Wine & Spirits - August 2013 - (Page 58)

Year’s Best RIaS BaIxaS Year’s Best RIESLING 189902 90 | señorío de Valei $20 2012 Rías Baixas Albariño (Best Buy) ^ Tight and youthful, this wine needs decanting if you open it now. It’s tense, firmly packed with fresh lime flavor that rises up with time in the glass.§ Classic Wines, Stamford, CT 189901 89 | Robaliño N e W YoRk state lasts far beyond the sweetness. (51 cases) § Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard, Dundee, NY 419123 93 | Hazlitt 1852 $17 2012 Rías Baixas Albariño (Best Buy) ^ This wine’s leesy scent brings seashells to mind. It starts off fat and fleshy with fruit, then hits with a punch of acidity, leaving salinity and a touch of sweetness in its aftermath. For clams in garlic. § Classic Wines, Stamford, CT 190172 2012 Rías Baixas On Lees Albariño (Best Buy) ^ A pungent albariño focused on the pale toastiness of lees and pithy acidity, this wine’s fruit flavors are less apparent than a chalklike minerality. For raw shellfish. § M. Imports, Coppell, TX 189571 87 | Vionta $15 85 | Lagar de Indra 421390 93 | Hermann J. Wiemer $36 2011 Finger Lakes Dry Magdalena Vineyard Riesling ^ Winemaker Fred Merwarth considers Magdalena his warmest site: There’s usually a generous warmth to its flavors—something he was able to achieve even in the difficult 2011 vintage. This wine is all gold accents—yellow peach, honey, golden syrup and just a hint of toasted lees—with a sunbaked sweetness. The flavors seem defined by the soils, mineral and edgy, reining in the richness with a mineral grip. (390 cases) § Hermann J. Wiemer Vyd., Dundee, NY $14 2011 Rías Baixas Limited Release Albariño (Best Buy) ^ Here’s an albariño that’s creamy with lemon custard scents, fat enough for crab, and fragrant enough for clams or barnacles. § Freixenet USA, Sonoma, CA 189563 2012 Rías Baixas Albariño (Best Buy) ^ A clean albariño with lemon zest brightness and peppery acidity, this feels a little blunt and unformed at the moment, needing six months of bottle age for the aromas to emerge. § Assa Imports, Washington, DC $12 2012 Rías Baixas Albariño (Best Buy) ^ Tart apple and lemon drop flavors combine in this wine’s soft middle, then a rasp of acidity and leesy, grape skin tannins carry the finish. Tapas like white beans with veal will bring this into balance. § CIV (USA), Sacramento, CA n 58 WINE & SPIRITS AUGUST 2013 $14 $20 92 | Hermann J. Wiemer $23 2011 Finger Lakes Dry Riesling (Best Buy) ^ Scents of passion fruit and citrus give way to tart green apple flavors in this lean, attractive riesling. In texture, even in personality, there’s energy and drive as warm and pure as a sunbeam. This would make a fine aperitif, or pair it with pad thai noodles. (W&S 10/12; 2,096 cases) § Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars, Lodi, NY 422197 $39 2011 Finger Lakes Dry HJW Vineyard Riesling ^ A tremendous performance, this riesling exhibits a tension between the round, warm peach accents and a darker herbal presence. While the fruit is exuberant, conveyed by a turbinado sugar sweetness, somehow a fierce minerality reins it in. The wine becomes elegant, with a heady, peach-inflected finish that 2011 Finger Lakes Late Harvest Riesling ^ This takes a day to show itself, starting off with a sweet burst of flavor and the lift to carry it. The wine accrues an unexpected concentration over time, the fruit accents more focused in their delivery, like a beam of peach-colored light. It seems to have the 93 | Hermann J. Wiemer 84 | Condes de albarei 93 | Lamoreaux Landing 2010 Finger Lakes Homestead Reserve Riesling ^ Homestead Reserve is a blend of the best blocks of a given vintage at Hazlitt 1852, a winery on the east side of Seneca Lake where riesling can bask in afternoon sun. And there is a warmth to this fresh, lively white, though what intrigues most is its gently savory notes of citrus leaf and pine, marked by a delicate minerality. It lasts on umami notes of parmesan cheese and cured meats, accented by crisp apple and citrus flavors. (W&S 12/12; 635 cases) § Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards, Hector, NY 418837 2011 Finger Lakes Lahoma Vineyards Riesling ^ Like many of the best wines of the vintage, this Finger Lakes riesling seems rich at the outset, in its white peach scent and golden peach flavors. Those flavors, while mouth filling, are conveyed by an energy that takes over the wine and leads to a beguiling spiciness. As intense as it is luxurious, this has impressive length. (240 cases) § Red Newt Cellars, Hector, NY 421388 421389 190003 $18 93 | Red Newt $18 87 | Maior de Mendoza our blind panels tasted 151 new-release rieslings from the United states over the past 12 months. our critics rated 26 as exceptional (90+) and 14 as Best Buys. Joshua Greene reviews California wines; Patrick J. Comiskey reviews Idaho, New York, oregon and Washington wines. Find a complete list of wines tasted and all reviews at wineandspiritsmagazine.com. http://www.classicwines.us/ http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com http://www.wiemer.com/shop/white-wines/magdalena-vineyard-dry-riesling-2011 http://www.wiemer.com/shop/white-wines/hjw-vineyard-dry-riesling-2011 http://www.civusa.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - August 2013

Wine & Spirits - August 2013
Editor's Note
Happenings
Contents
Fined & Filtered
Spirits: Rum & Ginger Beer
Athens Wine Bars
The New Naoussa
California's Heritage Whites
Insider's Guide to Sonoma
Local Snacks, Local Bubbles
Extreme Values
Introduction
Summer Sparklers
US Pinot Gris
Alto Adige/Friuli
Vinho Verde/Albariño
US Riesling
Rosés
Greece
US New Releases
Imported New Releases
Last Sip

Wine & Spirits - August 2013