Washington Hills Riesling

There's lots of talk lately about good Rieslings coming out of Washington State. It's a rarity to find a good one coming out of California, but Washington and Oregon show promise - along with New York, Ohio and Michigan.

There was a somewhat spicy chicken breast the other night so I unscrewed the top on a Washington Hills 2008 Riesling. The nose smelled sweet and perfumey, not really a good thing in my book. There was sweet apple and a little pineapple in the nose along with perfume. The taste was more pineapple and kiwi. The acid was a little low in this wine and the residual sugar was a little high. It had been sitting on a shelf next to a "Late Harvest" Riesling from the same winery and I opted for what I thought would be the drier of the two.

It probably was drier than the late harvest version, but this wine was more a cross between a German Spatelese and an Auslese. It really didn't go well with the chicken breast.

Last night I drank the second half of this bottle but the meal was different. There were two chicken egg rolls and a bowl of spring onion soup. The wine was somewhat better with the egg rolls than the chicken breast, but when the fiery hot Chinese mustard was added to the mix it finally found its pairing. The mustard was sinus clearing, but the residual sugar in this wine cooled that somewhat.

Not the best American Riesling I've had by a long shot, but it was finally good with the mustard.