A White Wine to Bring to a Playground

It's 70 degrees out in Northern Virginia, so that definitely calls for white wine! I'm partial to bone-dry white wines, so I picked up a vintage 2019 Dry Riesling from Chateau Ste. Michelle, based in the Columbia Valley of Washington State. Columbia Valley is pretty much located in the smack-dab-middle of Washington: if you drew an "X" over the state, you can find Columbia right where X marks the spot.

According to the 2016 edition of Kevin Zraly's "Windows on the World Complete Wine Course," Washington is the second largest wine producing state in the US. An impressive feat for Washingtonian (is that what they're called?) winemakers is the weather. How do you make one in a climate as rainy as it is in Washington State? With the Cascade Mountains and two active volcanoes, the soil conditions allow for making some delicious wine. As such, Riesling is the second most abundant white wine grapes grown in Washington.

The wine smelled bone dry...which I love. It is super light and pale in color and the first smell I get is peach, pear, and a little bit of crisp green apple. The wine tastes tart and there's a slight grassy note upon the first taste. The more I drink it, the more I like this wine. It's light, friendly, and perfect to have on a wonderful afternoon (or in my case, right at 5pm sharp after work!). I don't get much of a citrus taste, and the wine is also pretty short on the mouthfeel front (i.e. it doesn't linger terribly long on the tongue). This would be a perfect lunch wine and/or bringing-to-the-playground-in-a-YETI wine.

Wine Notes:

<$15/bottle

light, refreshing

pale yellow in color

#summertime #summerwine