Firesteed 2010 Riesling, Oregon, $13
Best Buy! At most wine competitions, entries are not judged according to vintage. This Oregon Riesling was by far the oldest of the nearly 70 entered in the “dry” category at the 2014 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, and yet it was one of only three to receive a double gold — a unanimous choice of gold among the five judges. That’s a testament to Seattle-based president Howard Rossbach and his winemaking team in Oregon, who search for warmer sites that perform well in cool vintages, such as 2010, and that’s why nearly half of their lot for this Riesling is from the Rogue Valley. They’ve only recently released this bottling, and they’ve done so at its peak as it shows tropical aromas and flavors of pineapple, tangerine and jasmine. There’s a delicious sweep of lemon/lime acidity to handle the residual sugar of 1.2%, which put it on the upper end of the dry category at this competition.
Rating: Outstanding!
Production: 1,100 cases
Alcohol: 11.4%
Hard to omit mention of Chehelam Riesling in nay such listing. Harry Nedry-Petersen made this , in my opinion, the ultimate in a dry , yet luscious version, more Austrian style than the boring sweet,”same old, Same old” versions more typical in the NW. While nice, I think /Eroica is overrated and a little overpriced-doesn;t touch Harry’s product!
Hi, Robert.
The Eroica is not mentioned here, either. As we indicated, these were Rieslings we’ve tasted in the past few weeks. Chehalem’s was not among those.
That said, we did review Chehalem’s 2011 Three Vineyards Riesling last fall – and loved it:
https://greatnorthwestwine.com/2013/10/11/chehalem-wines-2011-three-vineyards-riesling-willamette-valley-24/
Greetings Robert,
Andy & I remain huge fans and supporters of Chehalem Wines.
Perhaps you are unaware, but I wrote the profile of Chehalem Wines for the current issue of Wine Press Northwest, in which Chehalem was presented as Oregon Winery of the Year for 2014.
http://www.winepressnw.com/2014/03/11/2874609/2014-oregon-winery-of-the-year.html?sp=/99/1644/1668/
Harry Peterson-Nedry long has been one of my go-to winemakers for insight and history on many topics, and I’ve enjoyed interviewing Wynne during the past couple of years.
Chehalem is indeed a fascinating winery on many levels — including Riesling — and we look forward to watching how the next chapter is written.
I’d be curious to know which Riesling produced by Chehalem is your favorite, the SEXT or the Three Vineyard?