The Wine Knows

We have put the Summer issue of Wine Press Northwest to bed, and I'd like to get into a little more detail on our Riesling judging. One of the remarkable trends to come out of our blind tasting of 116 Northwest Rieslings was that those wineries whose focus is on Riesling rose to the top.

Take these facts into account:

-- Chateau Ste. Michelle, the world's largest Riesling producer, entered seven Rieslings in the competition. Of those, four earned our top "Outstanding" rating. The No. 1 wine in the entire judging was the 2007 Columbia Valley Riesling, CSM's standard bearer. Some 556,000 cases of the wine were made in 2007.

-- Pacific Rim Winemakers is focused on Riesling. Of the 135,000 cases of wine it made last fall, 90% of it is Riesling. Pacific Rim entered three wines in our competition, and all three earned "Outstanding" ratings. In total, Pacific Rim made seven different Rieslings in 2007, but only three were in bottle in time for the May judging.

-- Hogue Cellars has long hung its hat on Riesling, though it makes a lot of different wines. It entered all three of its Rieslings in our judging, and all three earned "Outstanding" ratings.

-- Kiona Vineyards Winery has been making Riesling since the Williams family started farming on Red Mountain some 35 years ago. Perhaps better known for its Cabs and Lembergers, Kiona has long excelled with Riesling. It entered three Rieslings, and two brought home "Outstanding" ratings.

-- Wild Goose Vineyards in Okanagan Falls, B.C., planted its first Riesling vines a quarter-century ago. The Kruger family focuses on Germanic-style whites, and its exceptional winemaking proved itself in our judging, with two of the winery's three Riesling bottlings coming out on top.

How can one account for this remarkable consistency among the Northwest's top Riesling producers? Actually, it seems rather simple to me. The folks who focus on Riesling have their fruit sources dialed in from years of experience. And once the fruit is in the winery, they know how to handle it.

Nicolas Quille, winemaker and general manager for Pacific Rim Winemakers (and a frequent visitor to this blog), confirmed this for me.

"Knowledge is a great asset and all the wineries you have mentioned have been making Riesling for many years," he said. "I also think that to make great wines, you have to specialize and you need a significant percentage of your production invested into one varietal. No great wineries (regardless of size) can achieve greatness without focus. I think it is especially true for Riesling because its viticultural and winemaking requirements are very, very specific. Another reason why, in my mind, you need to specialize to make a great Riesling is because Riesling has to stand on its own without any makeup (oak and other tricks) and without any blending."

Bob Bertheau, head winemaker for Ste. Michelle, added that it takes special techniques to capture and contain the essence of aromatic whites such as Riesling. He talked a lot about anaerobic techniques to protect Riesling's beauty.

These certainly showed up in our judging.

Later this week, I'll take a look at more of the top wines in our Riesling competition.