The evening's first wine selection was a tremendous success: the 2008 Goats do Roam Rosé from South Africa.
Image from sceniccellars.co.nzI need to drink more rosé, especially with slightly spicy food. This was delightful -- dry, but with lively cherry and watermelon notes that made it a refreshing pairing with the chicken and grilled red peppers.
A longtime favorite, however, proved disappointing: Pacific Rim Dry Riesling.
Image from ultimatewineshop.comI love dry Rieslings, and I've really enjoyed Pacific Rim in the past, but this time around it didn't do it for me. The wine was flabby, with an unpleasantly acidic finish and a strange hint of metal around the edges -- not the crisp, subtle, elegant dry Riesling I've enjoyed in the past.
This bottle did not specify its vintage, which I think was part of the problem. My guess is that this bottle may have been past its prime. It's a screwtop wine, meant to be drunk young. Generally I think you don't want to drink a screwtop wine that's any older than 2 years, and I suspect that this bottle was from the 2006 vintage. But without a vintage year I had no way to know how old it was. Unless Pacific Rim starts putting vintages on the bottle (and on their website, it looks like they've started doing so with the 2007 vintage), we may have to take this one off our "old standbys" list, which is a shame. Can anyone suggest a solid dry Riesling to replace it?
3 comments:
I figured I didn't have anything to add since I decided (without really trying any) that I didn't like Reislings because they're sweet. Silly me.
I had completely forgotten but I had the St Michelle and it was really good! I was pleasantly surprised.
Cait, I'm right there with you on the sweet Rieslings. My brother loves them, but I just don't enjoy a sugar rush with my wine. Wine writers I respect have suggested that Riesling is an underappreciated grape that makes much better wines than most people think, but a few bad experiences kind of scared me away from trying any Riesling that isn't labeled "dry." I'm excited to try the Ste. Michelle!
Follow-up on the Goats do Roam -- a subsequent bottle purchased in Boston in August tasted like pure alcohol. No fruit, no depth, nothing. Inconsistency is so frustrating!
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