I’m headed out and I’m going to pick up my bottle of Bonny Doon on the way home and get it chilled. Meet you back here at 7 p.m. for tonight’s tasting. Angela Moon is our expert tonight and on her recommendation to pair the wine with spicy food, I think I’m going to whip up a chicken saag to go with it.
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Wine
Responses to “2005 Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Dry Riesling tasting”
January 17th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
I’m ready, too. Just plating the saag, getting ready for my second pour. I took a small sip a bit ago, but the wine really hadn’t chilled enough. Lovely, though.
What temperature should white wine be served at?
January 17th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
This wine reminds me of a prosecco without the fizz. It’s very light, very delicate and I REALLY like it. I think whites are so overlooked these days in favor of more robust wines, but sometimes you just want something easy to drink.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Hello…we thought it tasted very fruity and smooth in the front of the mouth and sour on the back sides of the tongue
January 17th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
I detect a tartness, don’t know that I’d call it sour, though. It reminds me of a Braeburn apple I had this afternoon, crisp that way.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
the wine when first opened showed a bit of mustiness on the nose that quickly blew off. mine was a bit too cold so as it warmed i found the classic riesling nose of honeysuckle, with emphasis on the honey and a little bit of petrol, which is tyical of riesling. the ‘06 was just released in november, so yes, it may be showing some age, but not much.
this is a blend of grapes from washington state and from the mosel region in germany (20%). johannes selbach, an extremely well-respected vintner sells the grapes to randall grahm and the folks at pacific rim winemakers…
January 17th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
We agree with Tony and Marie about the smooth/sour, but it seems to have a little fizz to it.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
This is our first tasting, and we’re not much on all the terminology but it tastes very fruity along with our taco/chili soup.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
OK, give us a little lesson about the grape. Rieslings started in Germany, right?
January 17th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
hey john & tmac! i think the perfect temperature for serving light bodied whites such as this would be closer to 45-50 degrees. 34 seems a bit too cold…
interesting note on this wine and all of the wines from this producer is all stainless steel fermentation, which means no oak, no way, no how! and no malo-lactic either. however, now stay with me now, they do leave it on the yeast lees (the brave, dead yeast cells that gave their brief lives here on earth to enhance the body of the wine. they stir the lees once or twice a day and leave them to do their thing for 5 months. that is why this riesling is fuller than most…
what some of you are experiencing as tart may be the acidity…
January 17th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
I really love this wine; something my wife and I could drink often.What a wild idea blending two regions like that.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Roy and Pam, welcome. You’re perfect for our group. Although there are many experts on here, I’m not one of them. My New Year’s resolution was to learn more about wine this year and that’s why I started these tastings. Hey L&M–was worried when I didn’t see your names; welcome.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
I think this is still a viable wine that has seen better days; it’s crisp and dry but it’s lost some verve and vitality. V. tasty though. That tell-tale riesling bouquet of jasmine (or honeysuckle, Angela), with pear and lychee and that petrol/rubber eraser thing. V. dry in the mouth, almost austere with mineral elements like limestone and wet stones. Picks up some rose petal. A nice, delicate wine.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
yes, riesling was first documented in germany in the early 1400s. through dna fingerprinting they (you know, THEM) were able to trace one of its parents to be an obscure grape called gouais blanc from croatia.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
We’re eating lettuce wraps and it takes two hands.
Ours was too cool to start with, but as it warms, Larry tastes petrol and apples.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
How can a wine have seen better days and only be two years old? Someone please explain to me the signs of age on a wine like this.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
This is Pam, when I first tasted this wine I automatically said to Dave that it would be really good even with cook-out food e.g. hot dogs, burgers, etc.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
it is showing much more lemon than i remember. which brings me to a recent epiphany: i’ve been reading wine notes that refer to meyer lemons. WELL! i unknowingly bought a meyer lemon from fresh market last week and WOW! do they ever have a remarkable flavor! good grief! as per our conversation last week of flavor profiles for spice and herbs, this is a definate ‘go forth and obtain’. it will change your life!
January 17th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
It gets more viscous as it warms and now I taste green apple — Larry agrees and says he smells green apple as well.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Pam and Dave, I’d drink this wine with many things, including food from the grill. First off, it was great with the Indian food I made tonight (good suggestion, Angela), but I like a clean wine like this because it doesn’t compete with food.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
We like it and glad to know a wine we can order in a restaurant and not go ugh! when tasted.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I enjoy Reisling so much, but shy away from it sometimes because of the sweetness factor. It compliments seafood dishes and salads with its crispness. This wine is great! It is very dry but with plenty of flavor. Try this wine if you are looking for a reasonably priced, fresh alternative to the many chardonnay and savignon blancs on the market today.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Definitely apple, but yes, I also can detect citrus. Bob (husband) is sick and drinking chamomile tea with lime and honey and he just walked by with a hot cup. The smells were similar to this wine–the herb, citrus and honey.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
fredric, you might want to take jennifer’s question on, but this is what i think: the delicate floral notes are missing, leaning to a more minerally profile. some rieslings are to be drunk young, like this one, but others can age pretty well. to bore you: when i lived in the nahe region of germany we would visit bernkastel-kues quite often. i bought an auslese (meaning: a late harvest riesling) from the year of my birth: 1959. it had aged much better than I…
January 17th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
I get the mineral/petrol taste as an aftertaste, after the sip has been gone for awhile.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
my wine is a 05,08 is in tank as we speak.Three years can show some age on a light delicate wine.Very few white wine are made to go past three to five years.I think this wine is still drinking fine.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
OK, I know it’s 08, but wouldn’t the grapes have been harvested in mid-to-late 2005 and the wine bottled later? Or is it dated by the year it’s bottled instead of grown?
January 17th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
gee, i used to know all that stuff, but since leaving the distributor side of the business, where it was my business to get wines on wine lists around town, i am a hopeless homebody. rarely go to restaurants, just cook at home. i can definately follow up on that question when i talk to my friend ginger wilkerson at athens distributing. i think blue fish, but don’t quote me.
bonny doon does use oak integration for its red wines, just stainless steel on the whites.
mimmye and larry, did you try the chenin blanc?
January 17th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
When you say petrol/mineral, what exactly are you describing? We get the apple, grape, honey, but petrol…not so much.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
The lemon aspect is growing, giving it more tartness, with a little twist of grapefruit on the finish.
L&M, in Australia they also sat “SHEEraz” and “Petty verdot.”
January 17th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Angela, wish we had chilled the Chenin Blanc — that would have been a good experiment. In spite of the fact, it’s not chilled — we’re going to open it anyway.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
that chenin blanc is one of the tastiest most delicate wines i have tasted recently…
January 17th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
I have in my cellar some very old rieslings.I agreed with angela there is nothing like an old riesling like joh.jos.prum graacher himmelreich gold cap; but they were made for it.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I’m trying to figure out what the petrol is, too. The mineral I detect (think of licking clean rocks–you know you did when you were a kid, but I’d always wipe them off first…), but I’m uncertain about the petrol reference.
And if the rocks taste would be more appropriate to another word, someone who knows better please correct me.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
That helps, Angela. It’s a richer taste than I was looking for. I was thinking petrol like gas, and completely missing it.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Spinach cooked very soft with Indian spices. Tonight we added chicken that I sauteed with tandoori spice, and I even added a little half and half and finished with a spoonful of creme fraiche. We had curried cauliflower and raita with pappadums with it. I forgot about the rice but it was plenty without it, and the wine was lovely with it.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
The “petrol” smells like diesel to me and tastes like I think diesel ought to taste. (L)
January 17th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Petrol is a term used by the British to say a wine tastes of gasolene. Sorry, we don’t taste that at all, but probably be ’cause we have the wrong wine. Pam asked for Bonney Dune Pacific Rim, but what we got is Pacific Rim Dry Reisling from California. We must really get out of Bartlett if we want to find these wines? Sorry, Angela, it is quite a drive to come to your place.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
This wine just hit the back of my throat with a very soft touch. It’s warmed considerably while I’ve been writing and taken on a lush quality I didn’t taste at all when it was cooler.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Angela Moon, you were not born in 1959!
This is a wine not intended for aging, as we can see. I look forward to the ‘06. But well-made, not to say great, rieslings and gewurztraminers tend toward pure minerality as they age, and I think we’re seeing that here. I’ve had a glass by my side here for 30-40 minutes, and increasinglty it’s like drinking liquid limestone.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
We made Thai lettuce wraps and the Riesling matched up well. The Chenin Blanc goes well also but the Riesling seems to be a better match.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
quite alright dave & pam. but, i think you did get the right wine. that is the proper name, pacific rim dry riesling. the ‘bonny doon’ is in small print.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
We would like to know if you could recommend a wine merchant out our way that carrys a better variety?
January 17th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
i agree fredric! mine has been open for over 45 minutes and is definatley growing more lean and citric.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Fredric, please explain what you mean by that in a way I’ll understand. I just poured a fresh (cold) glass and I think the last pour had improved as it warmed. It sounds like you’re saying the opposite.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
i think bartlett wines, that funky little yellow building on 70 may have a good selection. i haven’t been in dance’s for a while, but i would imagine they would carry it…and what about costco? is that too far?
i am sure if you asked where ever you go they wouldn’t mind ordering wine for you…
January 17th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
You might try the Grape & Grain, I think it’s called, on Stage road right in front of the Target across from Wolfchase. They seem to have a very large selection of wines. It’s where we’ve been getting our wines lately.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Where is Dance’s? I always run into the liquor store by Costco when I’m there and sometimes I come across great finds. We found a great Cote du Rhone rose there a couple of summers ago for $10 a bottle.
Can’t wait for rose time this year…
January 17th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
OK, we’re five minutes from closing down. You still with us, John Vego? Next week he’s hosting and we’re tasting In Fine, a French white that’s a blend of 70 percent white claret and a few other grapes he can tell us about.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Thanks Angela, I never would thought that the tiny, little, funky yellow building would have what we need. We’ll stop in there.
Tony and Marie, Pam and I agree about Dance’s selection. We will try Grape and Grain; we passed it often but never stopped in.
Jennifer, Dance’s is on Kirby-Whitten near Blockbuster
Thanks all.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
i had a wonderful rose of sangiovese from a to z wineworks out of oregon night before last, which went wonderfully with a tuscan bean & pasta soup and my mother’s company!
i LOVE rose’—any time of year! we have a very interesting rose of mourvedre from cline vineyards. very strange and wonderful!
January 17th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
i have had the wine john will be presenting next week, great selection john!!!
January 17th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Jennifer, we’re not talking about improvement or not, just evolution as the wine warms in the glass or bottle.
Gotta go, it’s dinner time, poached salmon with a white bean, red pepper and sage ragu and a bottle of Meursault.
Cheers, everyone!
January 17th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Before we go, any suggestions on what food would go well with next weeks wine?
January 17th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Angela, I’ll stop in and you can introduce me to new roses. You also like Spanish wines, right? They’re among my favorites.
January 17th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Tony and Marie, I’ll put food suggestions in my column when I get them from John. I think he might be gone. I’ve never had the wine. Angela, can you think of anything?
January 17th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
that rose rocks.I have had it several times myself.and what a great price
January 17th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Jennifer, Fredric, Angela, John, et. al.,
We look forward to Thursday nights with you.
January 17th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
We can’t wait until next Thursday! This was like a date at home. What a great idea! … always wanted to go to a wine tasting event, but it always got put on the back burner. Plus, it’s kind of neat just trying one wine a week. We learned a lot. Thanks for all the info.
January 17th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
roasted chicken with tarragon and lemon;pork medallions with sweet potatoes…hey it’s time for my dinner break too! some mom-made spaghetti sauce and whole wheat penne, alas with a tall glass of water, since i am still at work!!! wow, would’ve gone great with that nero d’avola i was telling ya’ll of last week!
January 17th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
I’ll call John tomorrow and go ahead and post his food suggestions (and he knows about it–we’ll have to get him to share all his wine and food pairings from his big birthday weekend last week) when I get them. Of course, I’ll also include them in Wednesday’s Whining & Dining column.
It was a pleasure. Thanks, Angela, and everyone for participating.
January 17th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
shrimp ,grilled chicken.simple bistro food.Grilling a steak myself so got to go.Big red time
January 17th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Hey Jennifer, can you pull some strings with the CA Food Editor and get some timely matching food recipes printed in tiem for the wine tasting night?
January 17th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Dave and Pam: Not a bad idea. If she just weren’t so hard to work with…
Tell you what, I’ll post some online for next week and then I’ll see about putting them at the end of the column. Check back here over the weekend.
Roy and Pam: Love your comment about this being like a date at home! So glad you had fun.
January 17th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
thank you fredric…i am going to post your quote next to the one i just pulled from the book ‘the oysters of locmariaquer’ by eleanor clarke which states something like ‘how can one enjoy life if one doesn’t like oysters?
January 17th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Well, I goofed…forgot all about buying wine when I was out this afternoon & then remembered about 7:30 that the wine tasting was in progress. I had been planning on a bowl of pho, as I liked that suggestion last week as a good food to eat with the Bonny Doon. I don’t think this one would have been for me, tho - I don’t like the idea of a petrol taste. I’m going to be in FL for a few days & my hostess knows something about wine, so maybe she can teach me a few things.
January 17th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
correction: the quote reads “obviously,if you don’t love life, you can’t enjoy an oyster.”
goodnight everyone!
January 18th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Oops…didn’t GET that it was an online thing; just bought the wine and tasted it, making notes while I watched my new 32″ HD tv (50th b’day present to myself).
I thought it was citrusy, riesling nose, clean finish…acidic but tempered when I snacked on some meunster cheese. Became more minerally as it warmed.
This was a ‘goldilocks’ wine temperature-wise–not too hot/not too cold but YUMMY at just right…no idea what the degree number was on that phase, but I slurped it up to make the most of the brief stay at that temp.
I will BE THERE timely for next week’s tasting!
julie
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