Real Men Drink Riesling

Man, it's been too long between blogs.  It's been busy, busy around here.  I promise I'll get some extra posts up this week.  Hope everyone had a great weekend and lovely Valentine's Day.  Stay tuned for what we drank at Chez James.  On to the wine!

Towards the end of last week, the wife called to let me know that she wasn't going to make it out home for dinner.  What does that mean in our household?  A day off for the chef!  Woohoo!  I yanked some Trader Joe's orange chicken out of the fridge, fired up the oven, and took my wine contemplation stance in front of the wine rack.  Cab?  Nah.  Chard?  No sir.  Wait, what's that long, skinny bottle?  Excellent - a Riesling.  I definitely love a well-made Riesling, and we've had some spectacular selections lately.

Whatever you do, get out and try some of the 2009 German Rieslings that are starting to flow into the market.  You will not be disappointed.  These wines go beyond the common preconception of sweet with a touch of sweet.  They have nice acidity to go with a variety of food, low alcohol content if you just want to sip on something before dinner, and lovely fruit that just makes you go "Mmmmmm..."

The wine I grabbed out of the rack was the 2009 Dr. Heidemann's-Bergweiler Bernkasteler Badstude Spatlese Riesling.  A mouthful, right?  Basically, it's a ripe German Riesling made by Dr. Heidemann's from the village of Bernkastel sourced from their Badstube vineyard.  For a more detailed tutorial of what all that means, click here.  This wine had it all.  I loved the perfect balance between fruit and acidity, and the long, lingering finish.  Aromas included peach pit, a kind of wet stones by the ocean thing, and lemon/lime.  Same notes in the taste plus some vanilla cream.  You should be able to find a bottle for around $20.  Get some before they're gone!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a rich wine for a rich meal.  Happy sipping!