Riesling (Willammette Valley)
Let's go to the west coast of the US today to the Willammette Valley in Oregon. We stop in the Eola-Amity Hills American Viticultural Area (AVA) about 40 miles south by southwest from Portland. Today, we are drinking some of the most expressive Riesling in the world, but why would it ever grow here.
Let's go back and see where the area came from. Way back when, between when dinosaurs roamed the earth (I think I read that line in a book about 55 years ago) and when man first appeared, the western part of Oregon actually sat underneath the floor of what we now call the Pacific Ocean. Later, it was on that floor and collected millions of years of marine sediment. When a collision of tectonic plates forced what we now know as western Oregon out of the ocean, it created the Willammette Valley sitting conveniently between the Cascades, a volcanic range to its east and the Coast Range to its west. The addition of the volcanic soil from the Cascades appears to have created a perfect growing ground for both aromatic white wines such as Riesling and Pinot Noir (saved for a much later date).
We've gone to Eola-Amity Hills near the southern end of the Valley as one of its more expressive microclimates. The blanketing morning fogs combined with the breezy afternoon sunshine starve the Riesling vines without the need for external irrigation.
What all of this produces are extremely acidic, yet weighty wines that can be nearly as ageworthy as those from the Rhine. And, not to knock the Rieslings of the Finger Lakes (I really like them), these wines are often quite complex to a level rarely seen in American white wines.
It's going to be a tough day though. We sit down for a tasting of Riesling from a single winery in the AVA and see 20 glasses in front of us. Most of them look similar, but we are assured that they are, in fact, 20 different bottlings of Riesling.
Most are dry, some off-dry, some sweet, and some of the dessert style. (We'll learn in a few days that in other parts of the world, these are referred to as Trocken, Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese).
What we find in common among all the wines is the volcanic minerality enveloped by bright citrus and some tropical fruits. Among what we would consider to be the finest of these wines, we also have extremely complex, but mostly white, floral notes, wild grasses, a limited amount of stone fruit, some green apple, and subtle ginger.
Drink these wines on the cold side (5C/41F as an approximation) to calm the acidity and bring out all the expression. Drink the dry ones on a summer afternoon by themselves, with meaty seafood, nearly any shellfish (the salt in oysters and clams will be calmed by the acidity, but serve the wine a few degrees warmer), turkey, pheasant, quail, and even something like orange chicken, or pork tenderloin with a peach or apricot glaze. And, of course, serve with spicy Asian food.
For the sweeter wines, consider them with lemon meringue pie, key lime pie, or a panna cotta adorned with sliced apricot rather than the traditional berries.
Let's go back and see where the area came from. Way back when, between when dinosaurs roamed the earth (I think I read that line in a book about 55 years ago) and when man first appeared, the western part of Oregon actually sat underneath the floor of what we now call the Pacific Ocean. Later, it was on that floor and collected millions of years of marine sediment. When a collision of tectonic plates forced what we now know as western Oregon out of the ocean, it created the Willammette Valley sitting conveniently between the Cascades, a volcanic range to its east and the Coast Range to its west. The addition of the volcanic soil from the Cascades appears to have created a perfect growing ground for both aromatic white wines such as Riesling and Pinot Noir (saved for a much later date).
We've gone to Eola-Amity Hills near the southern end of the Valley as one of its more expressive microclimates. The blanketing morning fogs combined with the breezy afternoon sunshine starve the Riesling vines without the need for external irrigation.
What all of this produces are extremely acidic, yet weighty wines that can be nearly as ageworthy as those from the Rhine. And, not to knock the Rieslings of the Finger Lakes (I really like them), these wines are often quite complex to a level rarely seen in American white wines.
It's going to be a tough day though. We sit down for a tasting of Riesling from a single winery in the AVA and see 20 glasses in front of us. Most of them look similar, but we are assured that they are, in fact, 20 different bottlings of Riesling.
Most are dry, some off-dry, some sweet, and some of the dessert style. (We'll learn in a few days that in other parts of the world, these are referred to as Trocken, Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese).
What we find in common among all the wines is the volcanic minerality enveloped by bright citrus and some tropical fruits. Among what we would consider to be the finest of these wines, we also have extremely complex, but mostly white, floral notes, wild grasses, a limited amount of stone fruit, some green apple, and subtle ginger.
Drink these wines on the cold side (5C/41F as an approximation) to calm the acidity and bring out all the expression. Drink the dry ones on a summer afternoon by themselves, with meaty seafood, nearly any shellfish (the salt in oysters and clams will be calmed by the acidity, but serve the wine a few degrees warmer), turkey, pheasant, quail, and even something like orange chicken, or pork tenderloin with a peach or apricot glaze. And, of course, serve with spicy Asian food.
For the sweeter wines, consider them with lemon meringue pie, key lime pie, or a panna cotta adorned with sliced apricot rather than the traditional berries.
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