Producer: Charles Smith Wines
Grapes: 100% Riesling
Appellation: Columbia Valley (though from a single vineyard; see below)
Vineyard: Evergreen Vineyard, a 452 acre vineyard planted to 10 different white varieties and farmed by Milbrandt Vineyards. It is rather young, having been planted in 1998. The vineyard currently falls under the large Columbia Valley AVA, but is a part of the “Ancient Lakes” area, which is seeking AVA status. Ancient Lakes is a cooler region with soils of clay, sand, silt and Caliche.
Winemaking: 100% stainless steel fermentation and aging
Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: $11.77
Package: Kick-ass label. Screwcap.
My tasting notes: A slight spritz. Bright green apple and pear aromas on the nose with a waxy quality. Round, luscious mouthfeel yet with lively, zippy acidity. Makes me think of Clearly Canadian sparkling water from back in the 90s, if they made an apple and kiwi flavor. (I mean that as a complement – I loved Clearly Canadian back then, especially Mountain Blackberry and Western Loganberry flavors.)
Overall impression: A very enjoyable drink. A crowd-pleaser for your next party. Hell, I might pick up another bottle to have on hand for Thanksgiving. B
Free Association: I loved playing this game at the bowling alley arcade I was a kid.
More info:
Winery’s tech sheet.
Good info on the Ancient Lakes region from the Millbrandt Vineyards website.
Jeff at Viva La Wino reviewed this wine earlier this year and liked it, too.
Gary V. had Charles Smith on WLTV last year and they tasted the 2007 Kung Fu Girl.
Update: Found another blogger review from Ben at Benito’s Wine Reviews.
Glad that you liked it. I thought the label was cool too. Not enough people make wine that is “fun;” there seem to be too many people that are caught up in the seriousness of it. I have heard that some of the other Charles Smith wines that are in the “whacky label” series are fairly good for the price too. There’s one called Boom Boom with a bomb on the label, and a few others. You ought to try the K Syrah’s if you get a chance. I know the critics are all over them now, but they’ve been consistently good for many years, and are well worth seeking out if you can find them in Texas.
This is my first Charles Smith wine, but based on this I will definitely be buying more. The K Syrah’s are awfully pricey though.
I actually just checked this wine out last week, a friend of mine had been telling me I needed to try it for months now and I hadn’t found anyone near by that sold it until recently. Picked it up and it’s pretty damn tasty. Our upcoming review is on this so keep an eye out! Great site you have here!
-Violet Vino
Do you have a fbeacook fan page? I looked for you on twitter, I would really like to become a fan!
Thanks for the comments. I’ll be on the lookout for your review.