The Desert WIne Guy - 2019 Crestwood Barrel Riesling

 

2019 Crestwood Barrel Riesling

    What did I do today? Well, I had the pleasure (not) of going to Home Depot and dealing with a very happy (once again, not) cashier. Oh what a joy this women was to ......talk to (at). She was so much of a joy that when I left the store I realized ya know, it really is true, you do get the best answers talking to yourself. Why am I here in the first place you ask? Ya see, there I was, on my knees in the garden with sweat dripping down on top of my sweat (it was humid), with mud and soil all over my hands and up to my elbows. Every once and a while, I would I would have the pleasure of looking up to see that there were some beautiful rain clouds headed my way. Unfortunately, lately that is all I have been seeing in my part of Freedom Florida, beautiful clouds as the rain has been avoiding my area. Suddenly, what seemed out of nowhere, I realized that I was about to run out of drip irrigation heads and I needed them. In a hastily made decision, off to the computer I went, to re-buy a pack of 100 for $19 as well as a few other connectors and miscellaneous irrigation items.

Mosel Germany Riesling Wine

About five minutes later I realized that I could not (didn't want to) wait the 3 days it would take to get them so, what to do now? Take a twenty minute drive over to the dreaded Home Depot, that is what to do. Guys, $30 for 20 drip heads folks, yes, that's right, $30 for 20 as opposed to $19 for 100 on Amazon. Remember, I needed (wanted) these drip heads now and so I had no choice but to cancel the Amazon order of the same product which is made in the same country (China) and to not only deal with overpaying for the same product at Home Depot but had to deal with the fact that I couldn't even support an American business. Luckily, as a consolation, I decided to make myself feel better and review a Riesling. Would this wine brighten my day? That's a good question, so let's see just how this worked out for me.
   Today I am reviewing the 2019 Crestwood Barrel Riesling which is from the Columbia Valley in Washington State. I bought this wine at Aldi's and paid $7.99 for it. The wine is sealed with a cork and comes in at 13% alcohol.
   Looking at the label now, I actually like it. Where the ram on the label came from I don't know but I think the graphics were well done and really seems to fit the rest of the label nicely. I like the size as well as the font for "Crestwood" as well as all the other fonts of the other words. The Script used on the wines varietal is a nice touch as well and are well placed.

Riesling Grapes on The Vine

   Let's discuss the bouquet of this Riesling now. Honeydew and honeysuckle.....yep, that is definitely what I am picking up here. While there is a limited bouquet display, I can tell you that I am getting the impression that this is gong to be a very tropical and fruit forward white wine with a decent amount of sweetness to it as well.
   As I get to the palate now, I need to let you know that those bouquet notes I picked up definitely transfer over here and they are as expected, upfront and not shy about being there either. Those two notes also bring a super juicy tropicalness to the wine here on the palate and it turns out that juicy tropicalness is what this wine is indeed all about. At first, the wine left me with almost a slight palate feel of almost a peach/orange blossom type, sweetish nectar palate perception as it spread out across my tongue. In the beginning, I kind of sat back in my chair for a second as I really had to take this in because I was waiting (hoping) for the rest of the wine to "kick in". I have to admit, I did find it sort of.....weird and it kind of threw me off for a second or two. Luckily, the wine continued on and that nectar perception kind of lessened up a good bit and the rest of the wine did indeed, kick in. The wine continued to show itself off by presenting a unique note of a quick zippiness of sorts which itself lasted about two seconds and honestly again really caught my attention as well as I found it to be a sort of momentary shift, a distraction of sorts away from just tropicalness and into another direction. The wine wasn't done though as almost immediately and in keeping with the tropical theme, that peach note came on again only without the sense of nectar and seemed to latch onto that zippiness and wow guys, they get along so well. Have no fear folks as the wine was not harmed in any way by the abundance of a peach note. Another note that is intermixed here but also makes its presence known is that of orange blossom.

Riesling Palate Characteristics

I know I mentioned a combo type note earlier but this is different because the nectar note had clearly faded to a good extent which allowed both the peach and orange blossom note to stand on their own and really shine through. This standalone peach is a note which was almost hidden now and took a second to identify, at least for me anyway as I wasn't expecting it ti come back as it did. Once you do pick it up though, you see how it influences the rest of the wine in a subtle type of way. Now I have to tell you about a complaint I have with the wine and that complaint is that it is a bit over the top as far as sweetness goes. That nectar note was my first warning and I was alarmed a bit as it left a sweetness which spread across the wine and that did cause me some concern that I was never really quite able to overlook. Okay, so, Coming along next and at the same presentation level is a green apple note which is light yet certainly enough to be tasted and appreciated. Somewhere in this mix is some Meyer Lemon but you really have to sit back and investigate what you are tasting which I am not sure the average consumer (not my wine guys) will want to do. I know I was prompted to look into this note as it really bothered me that I couldn't at first get it. While it took me some thought, it was worth it. Following all of this up is a bit of nectarine which comes in at the same time as that apple. This is also a note that is ever so slightly more able to be picked up for the inquisitive wine drinker but nonetheless seems to make its mark here on the wine as well. Okay guys, you now have this review as it is indeed completed. Let's move onto the conclusion paragraph and wrap it all up.

Your Glass Being Poured

   Now that we are at the conclusion paragraph I will tell you that I wish the wine had a tad less sweetness to it. This sweetness certainly does have to be reflected in the final score this wine receives. As a positive, a big positive, I hope that I have convinced you that this is the ultimate Summer pool wine because it definitely is. I don't think there will be anyone who will complain about drinking this wine, wherever they are and whatever stage of wine exploration they may currently be in. If you gave me a glass of this at a pool I would be very happy. I bet you could even pass this wine off as way more expensive then it is just be careful you don't have any wine "experts" floating around on a raft when you do that :) On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale, I am giving this wine 92 points.

                                                                                              The Desert Wine Guy

www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ/videos

The Desert Wine Guy - 2020 Clean Slate, Riesling

 

2020 Clean Slate, Riesling

     Today it is a beautiful 84 degrees here in "Freedom" Central Florida and all I can quite honestly think about is the pool and of course, this wine here in front of me :) While you guys may find it hard to believe me when I say this, I normally don't find the humidity here in Central Florida to be all that crazy or overwhelming. I did say normally right? Besides when it comes to the garden at least, I always believe and say, "if you're not sweating, your not in the garden" and since I love being in the garden, sweating is good :) Today however, I do have to admit, it does feel a bit rough out here for some reason but that's okay because today is a well deserved day off from the garden and so staying "cool" and "clean" are the words of the day. With the weather being what it is, what better wine to enjoy then what will hopefully be a nice Riesling? While I usually don't review Rieslings, it doesn't mean I don't enjoy them as I certainly do. I normally stay away from the varietal because I always feel as if I am drinking my sugar rather then eating it. As a rule I stay away from sugar anyway and those of you who feel the same way can probably understand where I am coming from here. Besides, if I was going to have some sugar, I would rather have a piece of chocolate cake then a couple of glasses of wine. Hopefully this wine will at least be good and therefore be some consultation for my indulgence. As a final note here, I don't exactly know why but I am really excited to taste this wine for some reason so let's go ahead now and see exactly how the wine is as I get into this review.

Dominik Meyer - Winemaker

   Today I am going to be taking a look at the 2020 Clean Slate, Riesling (https://cleanslatewine.com/). This is a wine from the Mosel River Valley of Germany and was bought at a regional big box liquor store here in Florida costing me $10.99. The bottle was sealed with a screw cap and it comes in at 11% alcohol. As far as the producer of this wine goes, I can't find anything. What I have found is that an importer named The Winebow Group (https://www.winebow.com/) is responsible for bringing the wine into America. The winemaker for this wine is Dominik Meyer and the wine is 100% Riesling and was aged for 4 months on the grape skins.
   Taking a look at the label on this bottle now, I totally get it. I mean, it is a Riesling and for whatever reason, I don't believe it is a varietal to be taken too seriously. I do like the thin long label design as for some reason as it just goes well with the varietal. I also totally get the drawing of the Slate plates located under the crust of the Earth that represent the soil the grapes were grown in, nice job here.
   Let's talk about the wines bouquet now for a few minutes. Green Apple and kiwi are certainly present here on the nose and are not shy in their presentation. A gravely/Slate note is another note that I am picking up here (more reason to love the label) and I am completely in love with this note guys, like really. Before I move on, I have to ask, have you ever smelled something and even though you have never tasted that something (in this case Slate), you already know (or can imagine) what it tastes like? For those of you new to wine if you haven't already experienced this, you will very quickly see what I mean.

For those of you who have been into wine for a bit, I know you already get it. Next up is a White Peach note which comes along and adds a sense of what might very well be a dry, fruity zippiness to the wine yet doesn't appear as if it will be challenging for dominance however it does appear as if it is still going to be effective in adding it's two cents into the overall mix of things.
   It is indeed Palate time now. While the bouquet can be amazing (and it is here), what good is it if the wine doesn't taste good? As with the nose, the wine does put out both Green Apple and kiwi here on the palate and these two notes come together as one deliciously presented juicy note. Actually, as I take another sip I want to tell you that at least one great thing about this wine is that the palate is just swarmed by everything all at once which is awesome if you ask me because in the end, it works out incredibly well. As you taste the wine I found that my mouth didn't have time to dwell on any one note in particular as there are many and they come fast. Let me go back for a second and talk about those two notes that I first mentioned with the first one being that Green Apple. This apple is fresh....bright ....juicy and like....really super nice without being too over the top. Now the kiwi is presented in the same way and helps in making this wine robust and maintaining that tropicalness that this wine is exhibiting to a great extent. There is something that I need to tell you now. Yes, I know we are early into the review but I feel compelled to let you guys know if you haven't guessed already and that is, I am already highly impressed with this wine guys. Alright, moving on now, there is some incredibly nice minerality (Slate anyone) expressed towards the mid-palate of this wine and it really causes a nice type of a break from the tropicalness of the wine and the other awesome notes, this is not your average, everyday Riesling.

This minerality is nice enough to bring a bit of a dryness along with it as well which I found welcoming. So guys, I have to now let you know that I am not only impressed with the wine now, but I am indeed in love with the wine. Okay, so I am not done here. Guys, how about a Riesling with a spice to it? Would that be something that strikes your interest? If you answered yes then you need to read on.The wine exhibits an amazing spice to it that will not take a back seat to any fruit note. I am not talking about a pepper spice of course but rather one that I really can't find the words for. What this spice brings with it is a sort of "what was that" type effect. The spice and the minerality might as well have been brought up together because they just connect with one another flawlessly. Is spice in a Riesling a good thing or a bad thing you might ask? As you can probably guess, at least in this particular wine, I think it is a great thing. Keep in mind that this spice isn't trying to dominate, only trying to keep up with some of its lighter note friends. Let me go ahead and throw in some lemon which doesn't have it's twang thankfully so the odds of it tweaking the wine towards any sharpness is not good. This lemon is intermixed with everything else and is perfectly presented here guys, seriously. I am getting a hint of apricot here as well but it is an underlying bit. Underlying or not though, the apricot is tasted and again, I really enjoyed it being there for sure. I think what else is really nice here is that  the Slate terrain the grapes were grown in really leaves its mark here on my palate. This Slate is what I think adds a mineral note onto the palate that I mentioned earlier and as it is tasted it is a nice slight change of direction for the wine and adds a lot of complexity to it as well. Acidity in the wine is just perfect guys and is yet another note which  adds a lot to the wine. I am kind of tempted to say that without this wonderful acidity, this wine be missing a certain something. Acidity is super important in any wine folks and this wine meets that need nicely. If you think that I am done here, think again because next up is some White Peach that transfers over from the nose and again here, it's not fighting to dominate but is simply happily letting you know it is here.

Now with all this tropical fruit being present, I would certainly be remiss if I didn't mention that there is some sweetness to the wine, especially at 11% alcohol. Amazingly, on one hand, the nice crisp sweetness of the wine takes a back seat here yet at the same time, it is a note that you will pick up and actually appreciate. To me, there is the perfect combination of sweetness and other wonderful notes, with those wonderful notes certainly winning out over the sweetness. Keep in mind, this is a low alcohol Riesling and by its very nature, there is some sugar left in it. To me, this is the perfect compromise for those who both enjoy a semi-sweet Riesling and those who do not. So, that is it, this review is done so let's get to the conclusion paragraph and wrap it all up.
   As I go to close out this review, I have to just come straight out and say it. This is the best Riesling that I have ever had! Now, admittedly, I don't have a ton of experience with the varietal but I challenge you to tell of a Riesling that you have enjoyed more then this one once you taste it. The wine was super fresh and juicy. Super vibrant, flavorful and presented a surprise of spice as well. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale, I am giving this wine 94 points. Guys, at $10.99, you have no excuse not to buy three bottles. I promise you that with the pool weather coming you won't regret it.

                                                                                                                              The Desert Wine Guy

 

www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ/videos