What's better on a nice Summer day than a dry, entry level German Riesling from a good producer? Okay, maybe a Grosses Gewachs/Erste Lage/Erste Gewachs from a good producer. But right now this wine is quite enjoyable. This wine would be great for breaking down those preconceptions of "Riesling is always sweet" or "I know there are dry Rieslings out there, but the German stuff is always sweet" or whatever variation on that theme we wine retail salespeople hear all too often. I'm not going to pretend to be some serious Riesling advocate. There are plenty of those out there who have been at it a lot longer than I've been drinking wine. I'm also not going to hop on the "Riesling is underappreciated and I'm just the wine nerd to tell you all about it" bandwagon. Plenty of wine writers wax poetic about the variety so often that it sometimes seems that Riesling is the most talked about underappreciated variety there could be. Plus I kind of don't want the general public to "get it" because I like the pricing structure that's currently in place and I don't want to see another category price itself out of my reach in the high end. Sure, Riesling in its many forms offers a dizzying array of possible, extremely good, food pairings. I will say that, despite my love of the dry stuff, the off dry versions seem the most flexible to me. That's not to say this dry version wouldn't go well with a wide variety of foods. It would. It's also downright delicious on its own as long as you can handle a good dose of acidity. Well, enough rambling.
Bassermann-Jordan 2006 Riesling Trocken, QbA, Pfalz -- I got this at Old Port Wine Merchants for $18 and it's distributed by Central:
The nose is of fairly light intensity (medium minus) and shows pretty pear and apple components along with a bit of a melon aroma, all of which are balanced by a distinct, slatey minerality and a slight flinty or struck match smell. I also notice a bit of paraffin and a floral character. These components are woven together quite well and sort of subtly caress my sense of smell, making me eager to taste the wine.
The palate is quite similar, though the minerality is a little more pronounced and the fruit a tiny bit less pronounced than each was on the nose. I have come to expect that from many of these dry rieslings. The attack is fairly tight, but the flavors flesh out nicely on the midpalate and into the finish. The whole experience, with the floral, fruit and stony components, reminds me of, ironically, a nice summer day. It's really a pretty wine. There isn't a lot of complexity here, but there doesn't need to be. I am more than happy for the price I paid and will probably pick up another bottle soon. I think this is very good and would give it 88-89 points.
I will say here that I always welcome others' opinions on these categories or specific wines. Please, if you have anything to say about this post, leave a comment. I do read them and I will respond, though I'm not always prompt. Even if you have had this wine and hated it and want to tell me that you think I'm a poor taster, leave a comment to that effect. I do really like to see some kind of name there so I can respond, but any comment is better than none. Thanks for reading.
