Chehalem Reserve Dry Riesling 05
Platinum hue, with aromatics of white fruit, spiciness, and white blossoms that will open fully with time. The bright, cutting acidity and mineral elements contrast with a rich weight on the palate, complex peach undertones, and an extremely long finish. - the winery
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Winemaker's comments: "This Riesling shows the ripeness of the vintage, but also show the beauty of a cool climate, where acidity and freshness is retained. Very much in the rich, structured, floral and fruit Rieslings we traditionally do, the 2003 carries just-ripe peach aromatics and flavors, gardenia and other white blossom aromatics with a puff of talc, minerality, great weight and acid structure, and enough RS for roundness."
"Our dry riesling is produced in very limited quantities from selected lots from our Corral Creek and Stoller Vineyards. Our intent is to reflect ripe fruit that is highly focused with pinpoint acidity. This is a serious riesling, not a quaffer, a big wine with brilliant, rich fruit, bright acid and a weighty palate. The acidity provides ageability and great structure, making it perfect with food and cleansing on the palate. It continues the viscous, intense, Alsatian styled wines that our Pinot Gris Reserve starts; it is harvested late (almost always in November) with full ripeness and a touch of botrytis, giving the most intense dry Riesling we can make."
"This is an excellent vintage, albeit unusual in the fiery nature of the growing season. The same dry and warm growing and ripening seasons held for 2003 as with the past few vintages, only moreso, with Region II (not cool climate!) heat accumulations of 2500 units, average highs of 78F July-October and half the normal rainfall with 2.75 inches. Fruit was disease free, crop loads were easily honed to desired levels, and soil moisture was adequate due to good pre-season winter rains. Concerns of the vintage center on high sugars and resultant high alcohols, and low acids. Almost comparable past vintages like excellent 1992 may urge us not to worry."
