12.6% alc./vol. - Clare Valley, South Australia, Australia - $20.00 in Ontario (72868)
8 Grapes
Overloaded with aroma and charm at the outset, this good value sparkler gushes apricot, dough and peach pie crust. Average mousse, not outstanding, but again, we’re talking valuevaluevalue here. I’d like to serve this before dinner with casual friends who look like models, a light snowfall outside (fireplace on), wearing GAP or Banana Republic clothing, remarking how great life is. (JW)
I laughed when I first heard Kanye West’s lyrical dissemination on “Run this Town” (Jay-Z. Blueprint 3, 2009), but after seeing the video I’m all mixed up about it.
Watch this, or, at least 4:03-4:14 of it.
“I’m beastin’ / Off the Riesling” — that’s a pretty fantastic line right there.
One line doesn’t make a song, but sometimes it does make a sale.
I can’t lie: after hearing the song, I figured we’d see some sort of club-scene where he’s a got a Loosen, or maybe a Finger Lakes Riesling. (If he’s rolling with Jigga, he should have NY pride, right?) Maybe he’s swigging from a bottle on top of a Hummer, scads of scantly-clad lasses hoping to get a whiff of him. No worse than a Coors ad.
I was hoping the song might spark a Riesling renaissance, but the video just has some sort of post-apocalyptic sexualized gang violence sans Riesling! And here I was, thinking I was the only one to entertain a ridiculous dream where vine cultivation is dead and the remaining bottled Riesling becomes a currency.
Maybe it’s for the best that a specific Riesling bottle wasn’t featured. We all know what happens when brands get carried into popular culture. (See: Jay-Z vs. Cristal from a few years back. Has it been that long already?) Although, if a brand-bottle of Riesling isn’t featured, perhaps the potential buyers wouldn’t have that lightning-rod-wine to attract customers.
Bah. Nobody listens to lyrics anymore, anyway. If they did, the producers wouldn’t have allowed that absurd Rihanna chorus.
At any rate, kudos for Kanye for keeping Riesling in a popular cultural space, and props for letting us peek into his shopping cart… and if you want to insult Taylor Swift in your own home too, now you know what to get!
12.5% alc - Niagara River VQA, Ontario, Canada - $25
8.5 Grapes
Big ups to winemaker Derek Barnett for concocting a canny, aromatic blend completely befitting its growing location. Delicacy with substance. A Gewürz-influenced nose of lychee and roses, ceding to lemon-lime citrus throughout the palate. Very good acidic current c/o the Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc content. Replays of apple and plush blossoms propping up the finish. Enjoy within the year alongside cod with fresh vegetables in a light curry sauce. (JW)
In Niagara, ‘Wismer’ on the label seems to mean ’safe buy’. Following the line of the other Tawse ‘07 Rieslings, the Wismer release displays good lime and peach qualities, but with an added candy and floral note from the residual sugar. The acid is very well offset by the sweetness. Perhaps the most complete Riesling of the current lineup. (JW)
