There, I ordered a Merryvale Starmount Chardonnay, which I was told had run out. Okay, let's try the Hogue Riesling. Nope. Can't seem to find that either. Well, gimme the Snoqualmie Naked Riesling. At this point, I wasn't really expecting to get a glass of wine. Sure enough, the kid behind the bar couldn't locate it, either. After a little poking around and an admission that he was beginning to think I was looking at a wine list from some other restaurant, he did finally come up with a bottle of the Snoqualmie.
Snoqualmie Naked Riesling 2010 is a Washington state wine from the huge - 11 million acres huge -Columbia Valley. It is produced using organically grown grapes and hits only 12.3% in alcohol, but shows three percent of residual sugar. The wine cost $11 by the glass and retails for about that much by the bottle.
Snoqualmie winemaker Joy Andersen has done a good job with this bargain wine.
It has quite a nice golden tint for an "unoaked" wine, although the word seems to refer to the organic grapes, not a lack of oak. The nose displays earth, petrol and plenty of minerals. I'm happy so far. The sip reveals off-dry shades of petrol, which are noticeable immediately. The palate is earthy with pear and peach flavors, and vibrant. Acidity is very nice even when served too cold, as they do at 221.
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