Every year I offer a wine tasting as part of our United Way silent auction at work. This year it was won by a friend. He had won it in a prior year & we did a 6 reds/6 whites event, but his wife is exclusively a white wine drinker, so this year's event was white wine (and I brought along 2 extra reds for the white wine challenged).
The basic theme was 6 countries, with a Riesling and another variety from each. We moved through the wines country by country, with food in between in case of sweetness conflicts.
USA
2006 St. Innocent Pinot Gris Vitae Springs Vineyard (Willamette Valley, Oregon)
Fake cork, but holding up fine after a year or so in the cellar. Peppery with pear fruit flavors. Refreshing. Nice.
2006 Hermann J. Wiemer Riesling Reserve Dry (Finger Lakes, NY)
Not even close to dry, but very balanced sweetness, good fruit and length. Some had this as their favorite wine of the night and there was no issue with that at all, despite the quality of many of the other wines.
Austria
2006 F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Frauenweingarten Federspiel (Wachau)
Screw cap. Classically Grüner Veltliner with pepper and pea notes, tree fruit in the background & a refreshing quality. Very dry. One of my favorites of the evening.
2006 Salomon Undhof Pfaffenberg Riesling Trocken (Kremstal)
Vino-lok closure. Peachy, with red fruit notes. Dry but the level of fruit makes it seem almost sweet. Very tasty with lingering mineral notes. Again a top pick for the evening.
Australia
2005 d’Arenberg Chardonnay ‘The Olive Grove’ (Adelaide)
Screw cap. Dominated by oak and vanilla essences. Some tropical fruit in there, but overshadowed by its wood.
2006 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling (Clare Valley)
Screw cap. This one finally got me. The wine was so reductive that it was utterly undrinkable. It smelled like burning tires. It's ironic that the only completely undrinkable screw capped wine I have encountered came from Australia where they have so much experience with the closure.
New Zealand
2007 Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc ‘Icon’ (Marlborough)
Screw cap. All the things that are stereotypical about New Zealand Sauvignon (grapefruit, cut grass, jalapeno pepper) were in this wine in spades. It split hte room with some loving it, and others (including me) hating it for what it was.
2006 Pegasus Bay Riesling (Waipara Valley)
Screw cap. As opposed to what I had mentioned the other week in chat, this was not the 'Dry' and the sweetness was notable, but not at all intrusive. Well balanced and refreshing. I liked this a lot, as did many folks.
France
2003 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée ‘M’ (Alsace)
Rich, but balanced, and overall a bit of a crowd pleaser, with the 2003 "fatness" keeping the wine from austerity. I like this bottling for its unusual ability to balance 2003 richness with minerality.
2005 Francois Chidaine Vouvray Clos Baudoin (Loire)
For most people their very first Chenin Blanc. It was quite yummy too, with some Chenin wooliness overpowered by pear fruit and a subtle richness that played over a more compelling (to me) firm base. I think time may be rounding these 2005s into a more classical form. This was my #1 wine of the night.
Germany
2004 Lingenfelder Grosskarlbacher Burgweg Scheurebe Kabinett Halbtrocken (Pfalz)
I asked the group to try pronouncing the name of the wine. They did ok except of course for "Scheurebe" which was butchered in many and varied ways. The wine was almost universally appreciated, and ended up as the group wine of the night. Fruit, herb and mint aromas and flavors were very well balanced by only barely perceptible sweetness that augmented the fruit rather than made the wine "sweet." Fantastic stuff, and owuld have been my wine of hte night but for the overall potential of the Chidaine.
2007 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Kabinett (Mosel)
Noticeably sweet, but well balanced by its acidity. Very Mosel in its expression of fruit and mineral, but a bit loose for my taste. Some time should help it knit together.
And then the "emergency" reds for those who were suffering from acute white wine sickness.
2006 Alesia Pinot Noir San Mateo County
A light-bodied Pinot (?!?) with lots of pretty strawberry and raspberry fruit. I like this.
2006 Bodegas Vizcarra Ribera del Duero JC Vizcarra
Richer in color and body than the Pinot, but also very enjoyable for its spicy, brambly fruit and dusty finish.