Salty honey, melon and mineral explode with acidic fireworks straight at you. Viscous banana and sharp fresh paper placate and shred the nostrils at once, vibrant and alive, churning brilliance.
All your Riesling dreams and goals are coming to life in this one, boys and girls. This is one not often trotted out in trendy recent who’s-who lists of California Riesling, but this grandfather from Napa GETS IT. Where your hipster groupings run somewhere between *interesting* and *odd*, this Spring Mountain stalwart cranks out the goodness it has for DECADES.
In the mouth, lilikoi coates the tongue, sweet and peppery, lavish and razor-sharp, curious curls of petrol greasy syrup fall around, elevating and propping up the eviscerating acid. Fat and ripe EXACTLY where it needs to be, but chubbiness surrounded by chilling minerality makes for a textbook Riesling.
2014 SMITH-MADRONE Riesling Spring Mountain Napa Valley 12.8
