Wine Tasting Notes of Riesling 2012 by Hogue from Columbia Valley Washington

Today's wine is an off-dry Riesling made and produced by the Hogue Cellar in Washington Sate's Columbia Valley. The cellar doesn't grow itself and it selects grapes from several vineyards in the Yakima Valley and Snipes Mountain. One thing I like in particular about this wine is the elaborate description of the wine and tasting notes printed on the backside label.

I also found the cellar's official website (The Hogue Cellars) where you can find all the info of the wine, vintage and vineyard, making methods and other specific numbers. However, I also noticed that they haven't added their 2012 wines to the online profile yet, which grants me the opportunity to fetch out my opinions here! If you are interested in the cellar's own comments, you can take a look at the cellar's notes on the Riesling 2011. 

One obvious difference is the alcohol content, which goes up from 11.6% in 2011 to 12.5% in 2012 as well as the residual sugar, which correspondingly goes down from 2.2g/100ml in 2011 to 2.0g/100ml in 2012. It can be probably attributed to the overall slightly cooler weather during 2012 than 2011.

Sight

The wine color is light yellow and is inclined to lemon yellow. 

The body is transparent and clear with a few slim tiny bubbles at the bottom of the glass. 

Smell

From the first smell, this Riesling suggested white peach and apricot, sweet and ripe.

From the second smell after shaking the glass, it changed face and gave out a different kind of aroma - that unique and typical creamy smell of petroleum possessed by this grape variety, Riesling. You can imagine the chemistry reaction of fragrance on the nose when the creamy and intensive smell of petrol mixes with the fresh and sweet fruits aroma. It's a simple contradiction that mellow together nicely and produces a balance between sharpness and soft, creaminess and freshness.

Taste

Just like how well it combines two different aromas, this zingy babe continues to please me by showing an unique combination of juiciness and herbaceousness. 

Forwarding and sweet, which pictures a basket of fresh ripe peaches and apricots... 

But within 0.3 second, the intense flavor of tea leaves, spices breakthrough the fruitiness and follow through to the palate. 

Not complex, but really unique. Terrific anytime quaffer, either to go with after-meal dessert or go solo. 

I'd like to recommend this off-dry Riesling to folks who like sweet wine and those who want to find a zingy wine partner to pair with their favorite light desserts. 

Cheers,

Cyan