13Rotten wine: Late harvest Riesling
Last week, Abby presented me with a delicious bottle of birthday wine: Hogue’s late harvest Riesling, from Columbia Valley, Washington. Unbeknownst to her, I’d be longing to try this particular variety for weeks!
Apparently, Riesling is not produced abundantly in the US as a result of the high demand for many other type of wine, although it is very popular elsewhere (thanks wine bible! (aka “The Oxford Companion to Wine”). In order for this white wine’s refreshing acidity to develop, its growing climate must be sufficiently cool. (A warm-weather produced Riesling would taste very dull.) The minerality of the vineyard soil is almost important, because the flavors are strongly reflected in the final product. I will refrain from commenting much on the mineraly/steely taste until I can do it proper justice, so you’ll just have to take me at my word when I say it adds something quite nice, and is not at all nasty, like you would think. Other flavors typically present in the thirst-quenching Riesling are orange peel and assorted honeyed fruit flavors (such as lemon and apricot).
Now to the rotten bit. The qualifier “late harvest” means the wine has been botryized, or affected by noble rot. This occurs when the grapes are left on the vine past usual collection time until they, well, rot. Botryized wines are much sweeter than their regular harvest time siblings, and can be bottle aged for longer periods.
Late harvest Riesling still absolutely delicious: refreshing and sweet!
