It was quite the party Saturday night!  A Finger Lakes Riesling Release party and these are the 4 Rieslings I got to taste.  Of course a what is a party without some food and we had some from cheese to lobster.

My tasting collection above ranged from dry to what I think is sweet.  As every palate is different, I feel the level of sweetness is detected differently, but the McGregor Riesling clocked in at 4% residual sugar to my palate that is sweet and I paired it with spice and it was great compliment to eachother.

My pairing that I wasn’t really pairing was with the 2013 Dr Konstantin Frank Dry Riesling.  I was actually preparing a chicken tandoori dish and needed something to snack on. I pulled out these Lays Mango Salsa potato chips and a bell went off after the first bite.

The Riesling, nice, crisp with aromas of peach, stone fruit, lemon and green apple. Nice crisp minerality on the palate with green apple and lemon zest.  Nicely balanced.  Then came the chips, the sweetness but yet unique flavor of the mango salsa chips just complimented the wine.  The chicken paired nicely as well, but I think the winner was the mango salsa chips with Dr. Frank. SRP $14.99




Located on the east side of Keuka Lake, Keuka Spring Vineyards produces this vineyard select Riesling from Humphreys Vineyard which is located on the west side of Seneca Lake.  The 2013 Humphreys Riesling is a true expression of vineyard and location, terrior. Nice expressions of apricot and apple on the nose, the palate is crisp, but not as much acidity as I would like.  It had beautiful flavors of apricot and peach on the palate.  I paired this with Champignon Brie with Mushrooms and the cheese brings out a bit of the sweetness in the wine.  A very nice pairing as the flavors compliment eachother. SRP $21.99



Finding myself at the shore for this tasting I couldn’t resist purchasing some lobster to pair with the Riesling.  I didn’t do the normal steam or boil the lobster, we grilled the tails. Split them, brushed them with butter and put them on the grill.  Grilling them adds an entire different flavor to the lobster but a good flavor.

The lobster was paired with the Thirsty Owl 2013 Riesling.  A semi-dry Riesling as the residual sugar clocked in at 1.5% , and low alcohol content of 11% which was a perfect accompaniment to the lobster.

The wine had a nice balance of acidity.  A little floral notes on the nose.  On my palate I found notes of melon and green apple, but mid palate there was hints of grapefruit. This Riesling paired with the grilled lobster, yum! SRP $14.95


 

The McGregor 2013 Riesling was the sweetest of the bunch coming in at 4% residual sugar.  I’m not use to such sweet wine.  However, with that being said, it has its place with spice.  Aromas of green apple and peach lead to some hints of minerality and apricot. It was nicely balanced, but sweet.  I made my nachos which had hot peppers right from my garden.  They were HOT!  What was nice paired with the Riesling is that wine mellowed the heat in the peppers and the flavors blended so nicely together. One would have never realized how hot the peppers really were (yes I like them hot!) SRP $19.99