Guys, have you ever gotten on a particular wine varietal kick? I mean like all of a sudden you are drinking four Sauvignon Blancs in a row or four Rieslings in a row and your cool with it because you suddenly have a crazy attachment to that particular varietal. Well if you've ever been there and done that, you know where I am right now. I guess as long as we are comfortable with the wine we are drinking, who can tell us we are wrong....right? Wine is about enjoyment so why not drink what you enjoy and in my case, and at this particular time, I have been liking Riesling. Now many of you might find this weird because as I am writing this review, it is the end of December and Central Florida is experiencing some of the coldest temperatures at night that they have experienced in many years at 23 degrees. Oh well, I also wear white after Labor Day so I guess I am a rebel :) Speaking of Riesling, that is what I just so happen to be reviewing today so let's check this wine out.
Okay guys, today I am going to be taking a look at the 2021 Chateau Ste Michelle, Dry Riesling. I paid $9.99 for this wine and I bought it at my local grocery store. The bottle is cork sealed and, with a real cork as well. The wine comes in at 13% alcohol and its grapes are 100% Riesling and come from the Columbia Valley in Washington State.
Okay, it is time to take a look at the label on the bottle. For those of you who follow this blog, you already know that I think the label on a wine bottle is very important because it is the first thing that catches the consumers eye on a shelf. Do you want a serious Riesling or do you want a Riesling that is meant for playtime at the pool? I have always liked the label that Chateau Ste Michell puts on their wines as I feel it offers up a sense of a semi seriousness or at least the thought of a well thought out wine being inside the bottle. I really like the size & font of the winery name and the way it provides an offset to the other fonts used. While the wine is available everywhere including some gas stations, it still presents the appearance at least of holding its own and setting itself apart from a lot of other very common wines thanks to the label.
As I check out the nose of the wine I am getting some light stone fruit in the form of a Yellow Peach here. Following this up is an almost hidden bit of honeysuckle. I am also getting the slightest bit of white flowers as well and it is right in line with that Yellow peach and honeysuckle as far as presentation goes. Overall, the nose is fairly on the tropical side but is overall rather light. Just going by the nose now, I would guess this wine is probably not an over the top, tropical one on the palate but I will soon see if I am right..
Now onto the palate presentation aspect of the wine. First up I am getting the belief after tasting just a couple of sips that the wine is true to its name, it is dry. Now, when I say dry, I am not talking over the top, screaming dry. Yes, there is a nicely regulated amount of tropical fruit presented here that provides sufficient fruit sweetness and energy in order to keep your mouth from puckering up or thinking you have stuffed a dry rag into it. There is also a bit of a zippyiness to the wine, an ever so slightest bit of a carbonation to it. I have to keep it real guys, whenever I taste that note in a wine it kind of throws me off. Here in this wine it was no exception and it really did just that for the first two sips however very quickly it became a note that I found rather enjoyable.
The wine offed up some nice lemon, almost with a Nestea type taste in a slight way which I thought was offered up in a way that took any possible twang away but added a slight softness and slight brilliance as well in it's place. A background Yellow Peach note is present as well and I like where it is placed and the palate feel it presents. I also like the fact that I can enjoy the tropicalness here without thinking I am reviewing some badly made white wine that relies on sugar or sweetness to get its likes. Minerality is definitely present although not overwhelming by any means. There is a note of almost like...tannins to the wine guys and although weird as it is a white wine, I am actually enjoying it. This feeling of tannin's certainly isn't crazy but the fact that it is a white wine really makes it rather unique. There is a honeysuckle note to the wine but it is well controlled by the acidity of the wine which is also very nice. This acidity is what I would consider to be at a medium presentation and is certainly sufficient to be doing what it does best which is keeping the wine a very lively and dry one indeed. Okay guys, there you have it, this review is done so I will see you in the next paragraph where I will wrap this all up.
Folks, I enjoyed the wine. See you later, goodbye. I'm just kidding, lets talk about how I feel concerning this wine. The first thing is, as a reminder, this wine cost me $10 but even if the wine was more expensive, I would still what I am about to say. The wine was very enjoyable and I thought, well made. To me, this is a multi use wine meaning it will impress at a dinner party as well as at the pool. In short, this is a wine you can break out anytime and impress your guests. Overall, the wine is medium as far as tropicalness goes but is really geared more towards being a dry and minerality driven Riesling. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I am giving this wine 92 points. I do recommend you buy the wine as there is nothing offensive about it at all, it is very well made and, the true definition of a crowd pleaser.
The Desert Wine Guy
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