A bit of oak showing through. Ends up lacking the facileness of Riesling with some phenolic extract showing its elbows here and there Some floral notes, feels a bit tight and showing more notes on day 2 and 3, but never fully composed I would hold my second bottle until year 7 and then retry. I could well be wrong but this feels like Riesling made by someone who make zins all day
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Almost a year since I last tasted, and this is coming along nicely. It really feels like Desire Lines invented a new style of wine here - Riesling with noticable oak. (In this case, they used 1000L Austrian barrels).
Of course, this isn't THAT oaky; but you can defenitely smell some secondary influence. Ripe white peach, lemon curd, jasmine, reduction (probably from TDN?), smoke, cedar, vanilla and warm spices on the nose. Medium + intensity of aromas. The palate is more complex, adding flavors of ripe green melon, ripe yellow apple, and ripe quince; finishing with some bitter herbs and buttered toast. Thinking there was some lees aging on this as well. Nice length of finish too.
Medium body with only medium acid (surprising for Riesling). Starting to enter its drinking window right now; where it should stay for 5 years. Great pairing with pork Pörkölt.
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This wine takes me back in time. I remember the Durney Winery. Back then I didn’t realize that there was Riesling planted. I also did not know that eventually someone would rediscover that Riesling, and give it some serious love and care. Nostalgia is what made me try this wine. That and Cody’s clear skill with Riesling. Having now tasted a bottle over the course of a full week, which I rarely do, I will happily go back for more if it is offered again. The balance is just to the off side of dry, but with firm finishing acidity it does not present at all sweet. The fruit is to the crisp and even a touch tart end of the spectrum, with a finishing note of grapefruit pith making my mouth water for another sip. There’s excellent mid-palate depth, so it feels more substantial, like a Pfalzer (which I have noted before in Cody’s Rieslings) rather than a Mosel trocken. This bottling stands with the Cole Ranch and Wiley bottlings, as another expression of Riesling transmitted through a specific, notable place in California.
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Honeysuckle, jasmine, tangerine/orange peel, under ripe white peach, apricot and a hint of plastic/TDN on the nose. Not quite petrol; but I think if you aged it a couple more years it would smell like petrol. The palate is linear, mostly consistent with the aromas, adds wet stone, fresh green herbs and leads with the non-fruit notes. All the fruits and flowers are at the end.
Medium bodied with only medium acid, which was a bit of a surprise for Riesling. Great structure here though. I agree with the other reviewers who say this is likely to improve. Age it for 2-5 more years at least.
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Medium Lemon. Vanilla and lemon peel on the nose. On the palate high acidity, medium alcohol, silky texture, pineapple, apples, pears. Likely to improve.
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9 Rieslings - 6 Dry 3 Off Dry: First wine, lightest color and guessed for youngest in the lineup (correct) but that was about as far as I got. Tons of slate and minerally citrus on the nose, more fruit forward on the palate with a whiff of petrol. Fairly short finish, this needs some time to open up.
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Nine Rieslings, Mostly Dry, with Seven DC Doods (DeeCee Columbia Heights): Pale straw color. Initially quite shy on the nose, this eventually opened to show white florals and lime o the nose. A very clean and linear wine with some lemon/lime citrus and a bright refreshing finish. Seems this one could use some time to find its full expression.
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An evolution in style for DL riesling, with the fermentation in large wood barrels having a clear influence on texture and mouthfeel. There’s just more complexity here, while still retaining that California orchard and citrus fruit and strong acidic spine. Love the clean lime and white flower finish. So good.
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Intense orchard fruit, great body, balance and depth. Delicious and stunning. For all of Cody's great Rieslings, this may just be his finest in my book.
Picked by many as the wine of the lineup among rieslings from around the world.
I generally understand this to be dry farmed on a slope with underground ephemeral stream watering the roots with cool mtn runoff. Winemaking seems to allow expression of much more stone and terroir characteristics than the fruit-disguise presented by many other bottles this evening. Dry, fruit character was ripe orange and apricot. This bottle represented therefore the warmest-spectrum fruits combo with the lowest residual sugar. The Dry Alsace bottles tended more to lemon, the mosel bottles with peach notes were fermented to much lower alc levels with higher g/L.
This was one of only 2 riesling of the evening I noted a hint of diacetyl on. It played delicately and appropriately into the trajectory on the nose and palate.
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Of the same gorgeous style as the other DL Rieslings from the North, it's hard not to love this charming wine. Enjoyed with various sushi and fish dishes over a couple nights, the wine is equally swell as an intense sipper as it is a seamless partner to plenty of foods with its fine acidity and focus. For me, these DL Rieslings have filled the space of the Navarro Rieslings from decades past. The latter are still great wines, but it's hard to beat the quality cross value that's offered with the DL releases.
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4/8/2024 - yossarian.livez wrote: 87 Points
A bit of oak showing through. Ends up lacking the facileness of Riesling with some phenolic extract showing its elbows here and there
Some floral notes, feels a bit tight and showing more notes on day 2 and 3, but never fully composed
I would hold my second bottle until year 7 and then retry. I could well be wrong but this feels like Riesling made by someone who make zins all day
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3/10/2024 - wchrisw Likes this wine:
Another delicious wine from Desire Lines. So drinkable and friendly. Pleasant citrus zest and balance. Glad more just arrived the other day.
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1/26/2024 - AlphaMikeFoxtrot Likes this wine: 91 Points
Almost a year since I last tasted, and this is coming along nicely. It really feels like Desire Lines invented a new style of wine here - Riesling with noticable oak. (In this case, they used 1000L Austrian barrels).
Of course, this isn't THAT oaky; but you can defenitely smell some secondary influence. Ripe white peach, lemon curd, jasmine, reduction (probably from TDN?), smoke, cedar, vanilla and warm spices on the nose. Medium + intensity of aromas. The palate is more complex, adding flavors of ripe green melon, ripe yellow apple, and ripe quince; finishing with some bitter herbs and buttered toast. Thinking there was some lees aging on this as well. Nice length of finish too.
Medium body with only medium acid (surprising for Riesling). Starting to enter its drinking window right now; where it should stay for 5 years. Great pairing with pork Pörkölt.
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11/4/2023 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine: 93 Points
Fresh, well balanced and varietally correct. Very tasty - nice job!
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7/29/2023 - joet626 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Refreshing fruit here with nice acidity. I have had several Desire Lines Rieslings and will continue to try them. Always good. Nice job here.
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6/26/2023 - Rieslingfan wrote:
This wine takes me back in time. I remember the Durney Winery. Back then I didn’t realize that there was Riesling planted. I also did not know that eventually someone would rediscover that Riesling, and give it some serious love and care. Nostalgia is what made me try this wine. That and Cody’s clear skill with Riesling. Having now tasted a bottle over the course of a full week, which I rarely do, I will happily go back for more if it is offered again. The balance is just to the off side of dry, but with firm finishing acidity it does not present at all sweet. The fruit is to the crisp and even a touch tart end of the spectrum, with a finishing note of grapefruit pith making my mouth water for another sip. There’s excellent mid-palate depth, so it feels more substantial, like a Pfalzer (which I have noted before in Cody’s Rieslings) rather than a Mosel trocken. This bottling stands with the Cole Ranch and Wiley bottlings, as another expression of Riesling transmitted through a specific, notable place in California.
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6/21/2023 - zscheiner wrote:
Showing quite reductive at first but it blew off over the course of 2 hours open. Otherwise similarly delicious as my previous note.
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5/17/2023 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine: 93 Points
Interesting and delicious.
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3/18/2023 - AlphaMikeFoxtrot Likes this wine: 90 Points
Honeysuckle, jasmine, tangerine/orange peel, under ripe white peach, apricot and a hint of plastic/TDN on the nose. Not quite petrol; but I think if you aged it a couple more years it would smell like petrol. The palate is linear, mostly consistent with the aromas, adds wet stone, fresh green herbs and leads with the non-fruit notes. All the fruits and flowers are at the end.
Medium bodied with only medium acid, which was a bit of a surprise for Riesling. Great structure here though. I agree with the other reviewers who say this is likely to improve. Age it for 2-5 more years at least.
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3/16/2023 - ben7210 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Medium Lemon. Vanilla and lemon peel on the nose. On the palate high acidity, medium alcohol, silky texture, pineapple, apples, pears. Likely to improve.
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3/16/2023 - beegnat Likes this wine:
9 Rieslings - 6 Dry 3 Off Dry: First wine, lightest color and guessed for youngest in the lineup (correct) but that was about as far as I got. Tons of slate and minerally citrus on the nose, more fruit forward on the palate with a whiff of petrol. Fairly short finish, this needs some time to open up.
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3/16/2023 - CPSchoeff Likes this wine: 90 Points
Nine Rieslings, Mostly Dry, with Seven DC Doods (DeeCee Columbia Heights): Pale straw color. Initially quite shy on the nose, this eventually opened to show white florals and lime o the nose. A very clean and linear wine with some lemon/lime citrus and a bright refreshing finish. Seems this one could use some time to find its full expression.
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2/24/2023 - zscheiner wrote:
An evolution in style for DL riesling, with the fermentation in large wood barrels having a clear influence on texture and mouthfeel. There’s just more complexity here, while still retaining that California orchard and citrus fruit and strong acidic spine. Love the clean lime and white flower finish. So good.
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12/22/2022 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine: 95 Points
Intense orchard fruit, great body, balance and depth. Delicious and stunning. For all of Cody's great Rieslings, this may just be his finest in my book.
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12/2/2022 - ekorn Likes this wine:
A nice riesling that paired gamely with temaki.
Notes of peach and orange on the nose and palate with a green tea finish and a zip of mouthwatering acid.
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11/20/2022 - jdkrabbe Likes this wine: 92 Points
Picked by many as the wine of the lineup among rieslings from around the world.
I generally understand this to be dry farmed on a slope with underground ephemeral stream watering the roots with cool mtn runoff. Winemaking seems to allow expression of much more stone and terroir characteristics than the fruit-disguise presented by many other bottles this evening. Dry, fruit character was ripe orange and apricot. This bottle represented therefore the warmest-spectrum fruits combo with the lowest residual sugar. The Dry Alsace bottles tended more to lemon, the mosel bottles with peach notes were fermented to much lower alc levels with higher g/L.
This was one of only 2 riesling of the evening I noted a hint of diacetyl on. It played delicately and appropriately into the trajectory on the nose and palate.
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10/29/2022 - z_willus_d wrote: 92 Points
Of the same gorgeous style as the other DL Rieslings from the North, it's hard not to love this charming wine. Enjoyed with various sushi and fish dishes over a couple nights, the wine is equally swell as an intense sipper as it is a seamless partner to plenty of foods with its fine acidity and focus. For me, these DL Rieslings have filled the space of the Navarro Rieslings from decades past. The latter are still great wines, but it's hard to beat the quality cross value that's offered with the DL releases.
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