Winemaker Notes
Aromas of lime and orange blossom and a palate of juicy apricots, lemon curd and fresh ginger combine into a plump and iconic Riesling with electric acidity and liveliness.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
Drawn from high-density plantings at the crest of Lone Star vineyard in the Eola Hills, this is as savory as kombucha—and lied like it, too, with scents of sour lemon, ginger and a lingering florality. It’s lean and balanced, with a pleasing firmness that’s hunger-inducing for a seafood curry.
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.