Along with lobsters and white Burgundies (more on those later) the Memorial Day weekend is also the release of white wines from Kinkead Ridge and on Monday I ventured to the winery. The release was four wines from the 2011 vintage, three of which are pictured above.
On the left is the Viognier Roussanne, this vintage a mixture that is 77% Viognier. In 2010 the blend was only 43% Viognier so these are vastly different wines. I drank a bottle of the 2010 a couple of weeks ago and you can read that here. The 2011 is much more citrusy, with orange peel and blossoms and lemon zest in the nose, along with a dose of honeydew melon. There's also a touch of green fruits, but no lavender that endeared me to the 2010. This wine is lighter on the nose and palate and is almost a full 1% less alcohol. Great acidity on the finish. The 2010 was good with grilled chicken, but I'll save the 2011 for fish and indoor chicken without the smokiness of the grill. At $16.95 a bottle one can't do better than this wine. 14.2% alcohol. 110 cases produced.
On the right is the White Revelation, a blend of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, semillon and a few other white grapes. Stick your nose in this wine and you are immediately transported to the grapefruit groves in Vero Beach, Florida in mid January. Sweet grapefruit aromas that leave no doubt in the mind what's happening here. There's a hint of some floweriness and just a touch of herbs in the nose. The taste is pure citrus, sharp, tart, refreshing and just crying out for halibut or cod. $13.95 and the bargain of the year so far. 13.5% alcohol. 86 cases produced.
The leaves the wine in the middle, and the Riesling is sort of a conundrum. There's not much nose to the wine at this point. There's hints of of honeysuckle and lime and some white flowers, but those aromas are faint. The taste is equally light and nondescript. I had similar thoughts about the 2010 Riesling, and I put the ones I bought away for nine months and the wine evolved into something better. I'll do the same with this vintage. $11.95, 12.1% alcohol, 1.2% residual sugar and 101 cases produced.
The fourth wine released was a 2011 River Village Cellars Traminette, a hybrid wine sold on the second label for Kinkead Ridge. Pleasant, well made, noticeable residual sugar. Since I'm not a big fan of Gewurztraminer, and one of the parents of this grape is Gewurztraminer, I'll leave opinions on this wine for others.
I will let these wines rest for a couple of months since they were all recently bottled, but look forward to some good drinking later this summer and early fall.
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