April 30, 2010

Tawse Winery 2004 Dry Riesling

 
 


(Re-Tasted April 2010) ... I expected a heck of a lot more from this wine, but instead this is what I got:  First, 2004 would have been a decent vintage for Riesling (Konrad Ejbich in his book about Ontario wine gave Riesling an 82 with "more aging needed") - not too hot, not too cold, it was a decent vintage.  My own review from January 2007 speaks of pineapple, mango, mineral and melon, a potential for improvement in the bottle and I concluded by saying "this wine's best years are still ahead":  I gave it 2-5 plus years.  Well that educated guess proved to be a lesson in humility because I was way off.  This dry Riesling is now almost totally unpalatable: petrol and apple are prominent upon opening (mostly petrol) with a massive amount of palate awakening acidity ... give it 20 minutes and now it's all acid and petrol with the fruit fading fast, it never recovers, it never gets better.  I remember hearing a story about this wine - it was suppose to have a touch of sweetness left behind, but instead it was fermented bone dry and had sweetness added back to it.  This science experiment was not a good moment in Tawse's short but illustrious history.  Instead of telling you this wine's best days lay ahead I should have said that Tawse's best days were ahead, because this piece of their history could have an only be improved upon - and it has been with a change of winemakers and production practices.  On the Yuk vs. Yum scale I think you know where I sit on this one - too bad, because I did have high hopes, the wine should have aged much better had it been made right.

Had this wine as aperitif at a family dinner - 
to see what 1970 Bordeaux we had with the main click here

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