Is Riesling the great grape of the Pacific Northwest?
When most people think of Riesling wines — if they think about them at all — the image of a cheap semisweet or sour wine in a tall, skinny green bottle may well come to mind from those days when such Rieslings from Germany and California were sold and packaged that way, to be drunk with pieces of Gouda cheese and sculpted radishes on the patio. Yet the Riesling grape is a very noble varietal in Europe — the basis for the magnificent dessert wines of the Rhine Valley and the aromatic white table wines of Alsace. Now, however, some of the best Rieslings in the world are coming out of the Pacific Northwest, where the cooler climates are ideal for the varietal. Indeed, Washington State’s Eroica, made by Chateau Ste. Michelle, is considered one of the finest of American wines, and labels like Washington’s Long Shadow; Oregon’s Elk Cove, Ponzi, Viento, and Argyle; and Idaho’s Ste. Chappelle are prize winners at national judgings every year.
