S.F. Riesling Week Kickoff

It's hard to be too critical of a promotional $5 tasting of some pretty good Rieslings.

• 2007 Domaine Ostertag Riesling Vignoble d'E

  France, Alsace

  Light yellow. Lime nose. Medium body. Dry, orange fruit, quite lively with mineral finish. Very good dry Alsatian Riesling.

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• 2007 Weingut Allram Riesling Gaisberg

  Austria, Niederösterreich, Kamptal

  Pale with some green. Mostly straw and herbs rather than fruit aromatics. Lighter weight but nice texture. Dry and stony with green melon fruit buried in the background. Good and reasonably priced.

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• 2007 Weingut Gritsch Mauritiushof Riesling Smaragd 1000-Eimerberg

  Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau

  Fuller yellow. Pretty ripe, exotic nose for Austrian Riesling-peach and even some pineapple. On the palate, once again rich and ripe, real Smaragd weight. Just off dry with a powerful finish of minerals and grapefruit which reins in the full body. I'd never had a wine from this producer and was very impressed, especially with the lingering mouth presence it showed.

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• 2007 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Berg Schloßberg Riesling Spätlese

  Germany, Rheingau

  Medium yellow. Distant honey and peach. Fairly weighty, mango fruit. OK but it left me wanting more minerality and length. I would never purchase this at $37.

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• 2007 Johann Wilhelm Schild Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Fairly pale. Interesting floral, herbal nose. A fuller entry leads one to expect more intensity than you actually find here. Spicy as the vineyard name suggests, low residual sugar Auslese. Nothing special.

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