I headed to the New Zealand Wine Growers Tasting in DC about a week ago and had the chance to taste a TON of New Zealand wines. I always enjoy going to the New Zealand Wine Growers Tastings…they set them up free form, so you can just wander and taste what you want when you want. This time, they did it up fabulously with all sorts of lovely foods, a fantastic cheese display, Oysters that looked amazing, though I’m allergic, so I had to decline, 3 types of fondue, salmon, halibut….oh it just went on and on! At this tasting I ran straight to the Rieslings. I missed them at the last one and I wanted to see what was up. As it was, the Wine Growers decided to spotlight Rieslings and Pinot Noirs on a separate table as wines picked by a group as the best of the best. I started with the Rieslings.
2008 Saint Clair: Lime, lemon, honey, stone, minerals, smells acidic, tart citrus, pink grapefruit, flowers, orange blossoms.
2008 Mount Gray: Melon, lemon, apricot, passion fruit, pear, round fruit, sweet peach.
2007 Babich: Stone, smoky, lemon, light, reserved.
2007 Spy Valley: Stone fruit, pear, tropical notes, light.
2007 Palliser Estate: Lime, melon, honeydew, honey, stonefruit, floral, delicate.
2008 Dry River: Stony, minerals, citrus, pear, lemon, orange edges, citrus, minerals.
2007 Spinyback: Honey, peach, prickly pear, acidity, almost something herbal, pear, citrus, dry, lemon, delicate.
2007 Neudorf: Smoky, lemon, lime, pear, peach, racy acidity, dry, really liked this one.
2007 Allan Scott: Lime, stones, peach, round, slight lemon, dry, nice.
2007 Forrest Estate: Lime, light, citrus, pear.
2007 Mud House: Lime, tropical notes, stones, pear, peach, nicely done. A stand out for me.
2007 Mount Gray Estate: White flowers, tropical, peach, melon, lime, prickly pear, light, very nice.
2007 Amisfield: Lemon, lime, peach, pear, acidic.
2007 Felton Road: Soft peach, lime, sweet, seems to have residual sugar, honey, apricot, nicely done.
Filed under: New Zealand, Riesling, White, Wine |
Wannabe Wino Wine Blog 
[…] Sonadora added an interesting post on New Zealand Rieslings « Wannabe Wino Wine BlogHere’s a small excerptI headed to the New Zealand Wine Growers Tasting in DC about a week ago and had the chance to taste a TON of New Zealand wines. I always enjoy going to the New Zealand Wine Growers Tastings…they set them up free form, so you can just … […]