I love this wine (sorry, loved - it's all gone). The Chateau Montelena, 2014 Riesling (Potter Valley AVA) was surprisingly moreish. This Riesling had a beautiful, but subtle, nose of lemon and rose Turkish Delight with the faintest waft of petroleum. The wine had a lemony-loveliness with the first palate-pleasing sip, which was followed by something decidedly tropical, then finished with a whisper of key lime. Oh, and the merest trace of residual sugar which gave the wine a wonderful mouth-coating appeal. Great balance, just delicious.
I have steered clear of Chateau Montelena wines for the longest time because I found them somewhat thin and uninteresting. But Matt Crafton, Chateau Montelena's new winemaker, has crafted (sorry, I couldn't help myself) a really, really nice domestic Riesling. I am looking forward to see what Mr. Crafton does with the reds.
I am really starting to appreciate wines made from the Riesling grape. It's taken me a while, but I am beginning to understand why most wine connoisseurs consider Riesling to be the greatest of all wines.
5 comments:
Vg: This is very exciting; love good Riesling, and love your review, puts my feeble posts to shame, but your talent for writing, when applied, has always been an amazement to me (I'm repeating myself).
I went through a period of questioning Ch.M.'s QPR, and it kept me from buying their wines for some time, but their 2012Cab was an eye-opener!
Welcome to the club, VG.
And that is a fine review.
If you get that Great Wstern wine, maybe you should include a few Finger Lakes Rieslings.
NHW: Thanks.
I really will keep an eye on their reds - see in a couple of years if they've improved.
2012 was one of those vintages when it was said, "If you couldn't make a good wine, you shouldn't be in the business."
Tomasso: Perhaps I should just visit the Finger Lakes one of these days.
VG:
That would be wonderful, just don't do it between December and April.
By the way, we have finally gotten rain--yet still need more. Vines have been showing signs of stress. Some have been pulling off fruit. This vintage will be a smaller crop and maybe less volume per ton, too. Might be an early crop too.
Tomasso: I'd actually like to see the vines with fruit on them, so spring or summer would be best.
Less rain, small berries sounds like a winemaker's dream.
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