2008 Chateau Grand Traverse Late Harvest Riesling

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 87 points

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  7/11/2010 - cheersthanks wrote: 86 Points

  Radiant & Clear golden color. Sweet but bright fruit on the nose. Generally not a fan of this sugar segment (between the sweet end of off-dry and full botrytised dessert) but this is well done for the price. ($11) Peaches & apple, rich on the pallete. Personally I like to see the sugar swing a touch drier as the wine borders on cloying. Have had several bottles and see strong consistency. The wine is always easy an easy serve on holidays.

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  9/9/2009 - sweetstuff wrote: 89 Points

  2008 Chateau Grand Traverse Late Harvest Riesling (USA, Michigan: this is an AVA Michigan and NOT an AVA Old Mission Peninsula wine.) Gift from SO. Alcohol 10.5 percent by volume. Shown on label scale as middle-sweetness. 21.5 Brix harvest; 4.5 Brix residual. This vintage was rather slow and cool-ripening; picking started mid-November.
  
  Synthetic cork finish. Medium yellow-green.
  
  Young Riesling nose with Red Haven peach nose, with a touch of pleasantly funky empyreumatics.
  
  Viscous and well-extracted. Crisp and citric on entry; actually tastes a bit drier than its stated range because of the ripe tartness and tangerine-peel energy. Washes well over the tongue, giving a very nice finish. Well put-together. As it airs, there is a nice note of mint and delicately floral cinnamon developing on the palate, but the wine retains more lusciousness than absolute finesse.
  
  I'd expect a bit of improvement over the next year. 2010-2015. As usual, this wine reminds me more of an Alsace VT Riesling or a Rheingau rather than a Mosel. I think this wine would benefit from being cork-finished.
  
  This certainly doesn't show, by the way, the nice raw-paper scent I associate with CGT OMP wines. In talking with Sean O'Keefe I know he has a friend who is growing Riesling from him somewhere off the Peninsula, but I don't remember the exact details.
  
  Wrote a note to Eric to see if we can clarify how the Tracker handles wines like this, made by a producer in one AVA but from juice or grapes in another. (89 pts.)

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