Sometimes, just sometimes, a true hot summer arrives and your brain calls out for only one drink, a refreshing white wine that is sadly unloved in much of the world, because they drink pinot grigio or poor savvy be, preferably with a low abv, the imperious riesling. Last night was one of those evenings, so the chilled Cedar Creek was opened (far left):
View attachment 815194
2022 Cedar Creek Riesling, Okanagan, BC, CA. 12.5% - oh joy! Superb! An excellent apero, well-chilled, very fresh, lemon and lime, rapier-like acidity, very refreshing. Finished the bottle with a simple supper of pan-fried sea bass, jersey royals coated in butter and green (aka french) beans. Excellent value at £14.50 (C$25).
And others drunk recently:
2022 50th Parallel Riesling, Okanagan, BC, CA. 12.1% - 'lime, lemon zest, mandarin and white peach aromas' according to the second label; certainly lemon/limey and zesty, as for the rest, too overly descriptive. Nice wine though, very happy to drink it.
2019 Hidden Bench Felseck Vineyard Riesling, Beamsville, ON, CA. 10.5% - lower abv, just what I needed in this heatwave, too much abv slows me down! Nothing much wrong with this.
2024 'Unearthed' Gemischter Satz, AT. 12.5% - from Aldi, 'Unearthed' being their unusual range and always worth trying, usually very good value. Described on the second label as a "unique field blend". Field blends are unusual in that the growers do not know which varieties are planted precisely in the vineyard. Historically, this is how many blends, e.g. bordeaux or rioja, started. In this case, likely to be Muller-Thurgau, Muskateler, Scheurebe, Silvaner and quite possibly a dash of Gruner. Lively, vibrant fruit and refreshing. Another good summer apero.
