Chateau St. Michelle Riesling

One of the more popular sweet white wines is Riesling, particularly the Chateau St. Michelle Riesling wine from Washington State. In this article from the Miami Herald newspaper it turns out that the very same grape can also produce a dry Riesling wine of excellent quality.

Surprised? I certainly was not under the impression that Riesling is not only considered "one of the world's noblest grapes" but is also able to produce many different wines ranging from sweet to dry, all of them good. That makes it a very versatile grape and certainly separates it from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc which are both known for their dryness.

The article goes on to tell the story of Chateau St. Michelle's experience with it in the vineyard and with consumers over the last 40 years. One reason the winery planted Riesling is because of the cold Washington winters and the overall hardiness of the Riesling vines. In Europe, Rieslings do very well in Germany which is on the same latitude as Washington. Somehow though, the sweet nature of the wine produced unfairly put it into comparison to other wines of lesser quality. For example the sweet white wines of the 1980s and 1990s such as White Zinfandel and Riunite's Lambrusco which tend to be not only sweet but overly simple.

Both of those wines were wildly popular and huge sellers in the marketplace. It seems ironic the sweet Riesling wine which can be nicely complex did not catch on nearly as much as White Zinfandel or the Lambrusco. Perhaps that is changing now. For one thing the range of sweetness to dry makes Riesling a versatile wine to pair wonderfully with many foods and even dessert. The price for a good quality Riesling from the United States is often less than $10 a bottle.

While I'm aware many excellent Rieslings are produced in New York State, I don't know the range of prices because I don't see them much here in the California wine country. My understanding is Chateau St. Michelle Riesling is available throughout the USA.



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