Best Buy! It’s not as easy these days to track down late-harvest Riesling, but it remains a style of Riesling that Washington state continues to do well. Fortunately, Hal Landvoigt, director of winemaking for Precept in Seattle, has taken the lead on this, doing so under one of the state’s longest-lived brands – Washington Hills. He worked with fruit harvested during the second half of October from three sites in the Yakima Valley, Carpenter, Cowan and Pleasant, and there’s a greeting of jasmine, orchard fruit, minerality and a classic hint of petrol. The 7% residual sugar brings with it delicious flavors of nectarine, honeydew melon and more jasmine. The finish of Kern’s Papaya Nectar and honey-drizzled pear make it a crowd-pleaser. At this scale of production and thanks to a throwback cobalt blue Hock-style bottle, it will stand out on store shelves.
Rating: Excellent
Production: 9,923 cases
Alcohol: 10.5%
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