I was making a spicy stir fry dish and wanted to test the common wisdom that spicy Asian dishes are complemented well by dry or semi-dry Rieslings, and I've had a few experiences in the past to back that claim. So it was between this bottle and another Riesling from Washington State (Dunham) that I found at Costco, and I opted for the Alsacian one, because I tend to favor a lot of whites from this region (even wrote a book that includes them; shameless plug, but it's been a while since I did one). Plus it was a few bucks cheaper at $11.99, which is a great price for a quality white from this area.
The wine and the pairing both turned out very nice. This wine is a light yellow on the pour, with vibrant aromas of lemon zest, vanilla and citrus fruit. In the mouth, this is a medium bodied wine, that's rather dry, there's a hint of sweetness but no where near what most people think when they hear Riesling; this one is dry, clean and pure, allowing the fruit to really shine through. Lemon, grapefruit, orange flavors with a big does of acidity; key lime pie on the finish with a touch of vanilla and spice.
This is a good buy in my opinion, and a fresh change from the standard Sauvignon Blancs and Chardonnays that can run wild during the summer months. If you want to give something new a try, this one's a safe bet.
CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 88 Points
Costco item number: 1045182
Purchased at Costco in: Atlanta, GA (Kennesaw)
Alc. 12.5%
Joe Roberts says
Agree that dry to semi-dry Rieslings can be great food wines and fly under the radar of a lot of consumers because of the perception that Riesling equates with "sweet"---- as the song title says, it ain't necessarily so. The clue on the this one is the 12.5 % alcohol that tells you the fermentation was lengthy enough to convert a good portion of the sugar, leaving some fruit flavors and a fairly "dry" wine that can match up with a lot of lighter summer foods. Earlier this summer Costco here featured a Washington State Riesling that was semi-dry and sold for $4.89 a bottle after the $5 discount was applied. For the money it is fabulous----had some friends over the other night and they wanted to know where I got that great wine and how much I paid for it !!
Editor says
Awesome, thanks for the info
srh says
Been some yrs since I've seen an Alsatian Riesling [& NEVER a Gewurz] @ one of our local COSTCO's. A disadvantage of being in SoCA, I guess?
Editor says
Here's a comment from a reader named Erik, that was emailed to me that I thought was interesting and worth sharing:
I bought a bottle of Laplace 2013 Madiran Red from the Costco in Lynnwood,WA for $7.99. I thought it was a reasonably priced wine to try at that price point. Knowing very little about French wine, i decided to look into it. In a nutshell, what I have found is that it is a buy and hold wine, with recommendations not to drink till 2019-19 depending on which review you read. This apparently because it takes time for Madiran to age and smooth out for lack of a better word. Apparently it is regarded as one of the healthiest reds to drink due to chemical makeup. However, my point is that most Costco members would probably not know that this is a wine to hold and let settle. I have links and photos I can send separately if you want more info.
james says
be careful with this Riesling. Just had a bottle from Atlanta Costco and it was completely 'off' cardboard and skunk. not quite up to your experience with this wine!