1. The alcohol by volume on both the Dry & Off-Dry Rieslings is 13% v/v
2. We suggest they be consumed young, while they are fresh and fruity. Optimum drinkability is two to three years of vintage date.
3. Many vintages have indeed held up well beyond our suggested drinkability window, as do many of our reds. We just prefer them younger.
4. We've used the (correct) term 'Johannisberg Riesling' since 1974. In California it describes the true Riesling grape that originates in the Rhinegau and Mosel Valleys of Germany. If our wines were available on stor shelves, we might consider another name, but then again, maybe not.

crzycajn70 wrote:having gone in on both offerings last week as well as purchasing wine from Laura directly and knowing I'll be in Germany in about 6 weeks, I have to pass. After living in Germany for 3 years in the early 90's I have a loyalty to their rieslings and I'll probably have a half case with me when I hit the states as well as a bottle of two of Asbach brandy. still looking forward to hearing from the rats.

I went to winemaking school in Germany. If any of you wooter's get a chance, try visiting some of my winemaking friends there. Thay are all cutting edge wineries for Germany producing dryer unique style wines. They are Roland Pfleger at Pfleger winery, Weinstrasse 38, 6719 Herxheim am Berg in the Pfalz. Kurt Wolf at Wolf Winery, Haupt Strasse 29, 6711 Grosskarlbach in the Pfalz. Markus Riedlin at Sybille Kuntz Winery, Moselstrasse 25, 54470 Lieser in the Mosel and the winery I served my appreticeship at K. Fitz Ritter, Weinstrasse Nord 51, 6702 Bad Durkheim in the pfalz.

robertatvsattui wrote:1. The alcohol by volume on both the Dry & Off-Dry Rieslings is 13% v/v
2. We suggest they be consumed young, while they are fresh and fruity. Optimum drinkability is two to three years of vintage date.
3. Many vintages have indeed held up well beyond our suggested drinkability window, as do many of our reds. We just prefer them younger.
4. We've used the (correct) term 'Johannisberg Riesling' since 1974. In California it describes the true Riesling grape that originates in the Rhinegau and Mosel Valleys of Germany. If our wines were available on stor shelves, we might consider another name, but then again, maybe not.

thank you very much for taking the time to address these questions, especially at such a busy time (as WD tells us).

themostrighteous wrote:AWESOME! a winemaker finally shows up! i guess a winemaker is better than no winemaker!

so, seriously, as somebody who makes Napa Rieslings, do you have any sense of what their drinkability windows might be? i know, i know, it's a triple bank shot in terms of comparability. but i thought i'd try anyway.

I meet with Dario Sattui for a private tour of the castle (Castello di Amorosa) today. Tasted through the wines. I would say they will be drinkable for one to two years. They are well made, flavorful wines that show the character of Riesling. So much warm climate Riesling is picked at ripeness levels that no longer show the veriatal character. Although these wines are picked a little riper than I like to pick them they still show they are Riesling. Dario's style is more consumer friendly than mine. After tasting them, I was glad I purchased them on winewoot. What I was super impressed with was the 2006 dry Gewurztraminer from Anderson Valley. Ipurchased a case of that and two bottles of his 2006 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer.

ScottHarveyWines wrote:I went to winemaking school in Germany.

SWMBO reminds me that you told us that during our visit. It certainly explains my affection for your German style Rieslings, I guess.

themostrighteous wrote:thank you very much for taking the time to address these questions, especially at such a busy time (as WD tells us).

My thoughts exactly.

Corrado wrote: For some of us, that's a slow weekDAY.

Fixed that typo for you.

Corrado wrote:Having said all that, I was *really* surprised that you dropped a 93 on the Ty Caton Field Blend. Might have to pop another one of mine tomorrow night; I recall agreeing with with CT masses on the FB as a good 88ish wine (but no 90+ TyTanium).

Interestingly, the sommelier at our favorite no corkage on Saturday night restaurant was more impressed with the FB. Probably should have had him decant the TyTanium.

ddeuddeg wrote:Interestingly, the sommelier at our favorite no corkage on Saturday night restaurant was more impressed with the FB. Probably should have had him decant the TyTanium.

In the interest of piling on, I too preferred the Field Blend over the Tytanium, but stylistically I wasn't enamored of either. Well made, for sure, but IIRC a little more fruit focused than I prefer. My company loved them, and PencilThief is a huge fan.

ddeuddeg wrote:Interestingly, the sommelier at our favorite no corkage on Saturday night restaurant was more impressed with the FB. Probably should have had him decant the TyTanium.

blasphemy though it is around these parts, that has been my personal preference as well (FB first, TyT second), so i wouldn't be so sure that decanting the TyT would have yielded different results.

andyduncan wrote:Fixed that typo for you.

ROTFL!

Corrado wrote: For some of us, that's a slow weekDAY.

andyduncan wrote:Fixed that typo for you.

Touché!

woot needs to start shipping to Hawaii. : [

ScottHarveyWines wrote:I meet with Dario Sattui for a private tour of the castle (Castello di Amorosa) today. Tasted through the wines. I would say they will be drinkable for one to two years. They are well made, flavorful wines that show the character of Riesling. So much warm climate Riesling is picked at ripeness levels that no longer show the veriatal character. Although these wines are picked a little riper than I like to pick them they still show they are Riesling. Dario's style is more consumer friendly than mine. After tasting them, I was glad I purchased them on winewoot. What I was super impressed with was the 2006 dry Gewurztraminer from Anderson Valley. Ipurchased a case of that and two bottles of his 2006 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer.

lucky you then, because i checked their site out of curiosity, and there was no Gewurtz to be found!

themostrighteous wrote:blasphemy though it is around these parts, that has been my personal preference as well (FB first, TyT second), so i wouldn't be so sure that decanting the TyT would have yielded different results.

As we've been saying all week: different strokes for different folks.

kdeuce wrote:woot needs to start shipping to Hawaii. : [

at $5 or $7 shipping?!? i wouldn't hold my breath. really.

ddeuddeg wrote:As we've been saying all week: different strokes for different folks.

nah, not this week: they were all for Michael Phelps.

kramsauer wrote:Someone introduced a big dose of cork taint into this (half) week's forum..

[edit]Hey! 100 posts. And it had to come when I had nothing constructive to say...

(almost forgot about this one.)

hardly. we go w/ the flow here. sometimes, that flow is a downright riptide, 'sall.

but (almost) always in the interest of learning more about the fruit of the vine.

Corrado wrote:Damn! I'm supposed to be on their mailing list for new releases.

Wishing for them to be the first Arizona wine.woot, but doubting it'll ever happen.

I didn't get an email either. I've been watching the site every day waiting for Maynard to release the wine named after his mother that's from the vines which he laid her ashes to rest over. I just happened to notice it.

ScottHarveyWines wrote:I meet with Dario Sattui for a private tour of the castle (Castello di Amorosa) today. Tasted through the wines. I would say they will be drinkable for one to two years. They are well made, flavorful wines that show the character of Riesling. So much warm climate Riesling is picked at ripeness levels that no longer show the veriatal character. Although these wines are picked a little riper than I like to pick them they still show they are Riesling. Dario's style is more consumer friendly than mine. After tasting them, I was glad I purchased them on winewoot. What I was super impressed with was the 2006 dry Gewurztraminer from Anderson Valley. Ipurchased a case of that and two bottles of his 2006 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer.

I don't have room! Too bad, you convinced me anyway. I'll just have to find room. Unlike you, I can't just drive a few miles north any old time. In for one.
EDIT: Of course, I'll have no trouble pairing these with food. Even though we're running out of summer here in Buffalo, it will be great with my favorite Sri Lankan Chicken Curry recipe, which we always enjoy on a cold winter night. These are wines for all seasons, if you do it right.

Cesare wrote:Nice to see you over here Scott! I was seriously thinking of emailing you. Maybe you can talk about the wine sweetness scale chart that you are involved with creating. It would be very useful in situations like this where people always wonder: what's dry or off dry? Numbers or graphical representation are much easier to understand.

I'm one of the founding members and on the board of the International Riesling Foundation. We are a newly formed world wide group of Riesling producers working togehter to promote Riesling. Our website is not up yet, but will be drinkriesling.com. One of the things we are working on is an international taste scale that we can all use on our labels that lets the customer know what sweetnes level the wine is at. There will be four levels, Dry - Medium Dry - Medium Sweet - Sweet. We are still working out the cut off points between the four levels and they are based on a residual sugar to acid ratio. Hopefully, in the future when you are looking for a dry Riesling or a sweet Riesling the standardized scale will get you to the right wine for the occasion you are purchasing it for. This scale is being spaerheaded by Dan Berger. He has a weekly wine news letter that is my favorite of all the news letters. It is called Dan Berger's Vintage Experiences.

ddeuddeg wrote:I don't have room! Too bad, you convinced me anyway. I'll just have to find room. Unlike you, I can't just drive a few miles north any old time. In for one.

Yeah! Some friends of ours are major Sattui fans. We'll have to have them over to share and put a dent in the cellar. "Dueling laptops here!"

ScottHarveyWines wrote:I meet with Dario Sattui for a private tour of the castle (Castello di Amorosa) today. Tasted through the wines. What I was super impressed with was the 2006 dry Gewurztraminer from Anderson Valley. Ipurchased a case of that and two bottles of his 2006 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer.

NOTED.

WD

ScottHarveyWines wrote:I'm one of the founding members and on the board of the International Riesling Foundation. We are a newly formed world wide group of Riesling producers working togehter to promote Riesling. Our website is not up yet, but will be drinkriesling.com. One of the things we are working on is an international taste scale that we can all use on our labels that lets the customer know what sweetnes level the wine is at. There will be four levels, Dry - Medium Dry - Medium Sweet - Sweet. We are still working out the cut off points between the four levels and they are based on a residual sugar to acid ratio. Hopefully, in the future when you are looking for a dry Riesling or a sweet Riesling the standardized scale will get you to the right wine for the occasion you are purchasing it for. This scale is being spaerheaded by Dan Berger. He has a weekly wine news letter that is my favorite of all the news letters. It is called Dan Berger's Vintage Experiences.

Well, that sounds like a wonderful, worthwhile undertaking that will benefit wine drinkers.

Thanks!

gcdyersb wrote:I learned something new today. I've had Riesling twice and Gewürztraminer one; these were all sparkling wines, though not made via methode champenoise. It was more of a light fizz than true sparkle, so I have no idea if it was intended. Bad assumption that was the primary style for these varietals.

Totally different from my experience. I've never seen these in sparkling varieties.

ddeuddeg wrote:Scott was kind enough to invite us to his home/winery/vineyard last month to taste a number of his wines, including a Riesling made from grapes grown in Michigan, as well as one from Napa. The Michigan one reminded me of my favorite German style Rieslings from the Finger Lakes.
Scott, having enjoyed your Rieslings as much as I did, I'm glad to have your input on these.

You're right, harvest is underway. I walked the McGill Riesling vineyard yesterday, and afetr having tasted through the vineyard, decided to pull the triger and harvest this coming Saturday. I like to make a Riesling at low alcohol (10%) and high acidity (3.1pH) with just enough redsidual sugar to balance the wine in the medium dry range (approx. 8gms/liter). Depending on the vintage these numbers will vary a little. The numbers from the vineyard yesterday where 17.5 brix with a 2.89pH. By Saturday, the brix should be 18.5 and the pH at 3. These numbers mean nothing if the flavors are not there. Nothing is done until after walking the vineyard and eating the grapes. Once the flavors are there, then you figure out when to pull the triger for harvest.

V Sattui Winery Riesling - Four Pack
Current numbers (updated each minute):

First sucker: MaskedMarvel
Speed to first woot: 0m 5.093s

Last wooter to woot: BobboinAVL

The comments aren't knockin' me out but I'm light on rieslings. In for one.

I am on the fence as to purchase this or not after reading the views so far and am very afraid the power here is going to go out from this soon to be hurricane. Guess I will check back in the morning before the wind starts to pick up, god knows the wind blows more than 10mph here and the power is out for 3 days straight.

themostrighteous wrote:lucky you then, because i checked their site out of curiosity, and there was no Gewurtz to be found!

The Gewurztraminer is bottled under the Castello di Amorosa label, not the Sattui label. I'm looking at the back of the bottle as I'm enjoying a glass of the wine. The website on the back label is www.castellodiamorosa.com.

themostrighteous wrote:nah, not this week: they were all for Michael Phelps.

IIRC, even he has 4 different strokes.

ladyluck wrote:I am on the fence as to purchase this or not after reading the views so far and am very afraid the power here is going to go out from this soon to be hurricane. Guess I will check back in the morning before the wind starts to pick up, god knows the wind blows more than 10mph here and the power is out for 3 days straight.

Here's hoping lady luck is with you.

winefarm wrote:NOTED.

WD

Is this a hint for Thursday?

JOATMON wrote:Is this a hint for Thursday?

Very perspicacious!

So my wife and I invited a couple friends over, and we tasted the off-dry riesling. I had chilled it in the refrigerator during the day, and took it out about 20 minutes before we opened it.

We initially tasted it on its own, without food, and then tried it with cheese and roasted garlic hummus. I later had the final glass with a Thai massuman curry.

In the glass (I think it's a Reidel Vinum Chablis or Sauvignon Blanc, for those who find such things interesting), the wine was the color of pale straw. I though mine was slightly hazy, but the others considered theirs to be clear.

Here I have a confession - I love wine, but I don't smell (anything) as well as most people. For me, the predominant aroma was grapefruit; my wife noted apple and banana notes. One of the other tasters went with "fresh fruit", which would seem to be a safe descriptor of the bouquet; another referred to "tart pineapple".

The first sip included some well-balanced acidity, and a hint of a flavor I think of as mandarin orange -- clearly not a dry wine. Off-dry is a very good description. There is little to no heat, and a medium mouth feel. My wife waxed a bit poetic: "Like a parched valley after the first rain. Reminiscent of young, bitter jackfruit." One of the other tasters described it as "sweet but light and slightly tart with no bitter aftertaste." The finish is quite short.

Overall, the wine was appealing, pleasant, and not particularly complex. In many ways, it's an "in-between" wine. I liked it, but I'll probably enjoy the dry more than the off-dry. My wife prefers sweeter rieslings, and found this barely within her tastes; one of the other tasters dislikes rieslings in general for their sweetness and found this better than average for her because it wasn't that sweet. It's well-balanced, approachable, tasty. I wouldn't kick it out of bed. But it's not an overwhelming bottle of wine either, unless you specifically like the level of sweetness or you want a wine with very little taste of alcohol.

The wine didn't pair that well with smoked gouda, but worked great with the roasted garlic hummus and the curry. It seems to be in good form as a counterpart to sharper, spicier food. It won't be a star, but it will be a very creditable supporting player. I'm quite looking forward to the dry ones.

We took a shot at doing ratings as well. My wife gave it an 86. I gave it 90. Another taster gave it 92.

(So that's my first ever written wine review. How'd I do?)

(P.S. I'd love to see a Gewurtztraminer too. I'm a fan of the Gundlach-Bundschu, but that may be because I visited their vineyard several times when I lived on the west coast

robertatvsattui wrote:1. The alcohol by volume on both the Dry & Off-Dry Rieslings is 13% v/v
2. We suggest they be consumed young, while they are fresh and fruity. Optimum drinkability is two to three years of vintage date.
3. Many vintages have indeed held up well beyond our suggested drinkability window, as do many of our reds. We just prefer them younger.
4. We've used the (correct) term 'Johannisberg Riesling' since 1974. In California it describes the true Riesling grape that originates in the Rhinegau and Mosel Valleys of Germany. If our wines were available on stor shelves, we might consider another name, but then again, maybe not.

Unfortunately, I have never reaaly enjoyed Reisling, Even after reading all of the posts this week I will pass on this offering. I did visit your website and hope that Thursday's opportunity are some of your reds. It's great to try wines from WW that you would never have tried before. Especially in Ohio, where we get limited smaller wineries.

alansz wrote:So that's my first ever written wine review. How'd I do?

Great You've been packed!

alansz wrote:
(So that's my first ever written wine review. How'd I do?)

Excellent, honest review. Thank you!