Kennedy Shah 2011 DuBrul Vineyard Reserve Riesling, Yakima Valley, $25
The Shiels family purchased their land in Sunnyside, Wash., in 1991 and quickly began transforming it from an apple orchard into DuBrul Vineyard. Their red grapes soon gained fame within the hands of some of Washington’s top winemakers, yet their site also excels with Riesling. Perhaps it’s not so ironic that Woodinville winemaker Jean Claude Beck crafted this Riesling into one with a theme of Granny Smith apple, starting with the tantalizing nose of baked Apple Crisp, lemon and lavender. The entry is bright with more Granny Smith apple, and its bracing acidity is a hallmark of the bone-dry angle (0.1% residual sugar), while the finish of baked pear gives breadth and length to the finish. This already-decorated Riesling added a silver medal at the 2014 Seattle Wine and Food Experience Competition, and it’s among the family of wines at The Woodhouse Wine Estates tasting room in Woodinville.
Rating: Excellent
Production: 200 cases
Alcohol: 13.9%
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?