For my second Grocery Outlet-sponsored wine review, I chose three whites that I thought might be good or interesting pairings with the chile lime shrimp pasta that my wife made. The three contenders were these; all were $7 or less:

’05 Tremani Russian River Pinot Gris (Sonoma, CA)
’06 Kremser Pfaffenberg Riesling (Kremstal region, Austria)
’08 Dr. Reezling Riesling (Rheinhessen region, Germany)

The Tremani, despite being five years old, still had a hint of fresh honeysuckle on the nose, a bit of pear, and the spiciness we’ve noticed on other bottles of pinot gris we’ve had. 14.2% was eye-poppingly high alcohol, especially for a white wine from a slightly cooler AVA, but it was well-integrated and didn’t make my sinuses tingle as high alcohol in crappy wines will do. Just a tiny amount of residual sugar helped this wine do okay with the meal, although its ideal pairing would probably be something more like a white fish or chicken salad. So in summary, definitely worth the price, and as always, it was fun to get to know a less-common varietal a little better.

We’ve hardly had any Austrian wines, so I was quite curious about the Kremser. My sister had told me that some Austrian wines have similar qualities to their German neighbors (that is to say, steep hillside vineyards and cooler weather leading to crisp, acidic wines that make great food pairings), and since Kremstal is one of the more notable of Austrian regions, this bottle was promising. The first thing we noticed was the beautiful golden color, as well as some floral and dried honey aromas. Something I’ve come to love about lots of European wines is how the soil (terroir for you cork dorks)  really comes through in the nose, and the rocky soil of the Kremstal area shows up here with an intriguing mineral note, as well as the hint of kerosene that’s a trademark of old-world rieslings. This wine was dry, however (so it didn’t work as well with the spicy food), but would’ve been great with shellfish, for example.

Finally the Dr. Reezling (which had the cheezy description on the back), since it had noticeable sweetness, proved to be the best complement for the food. The nose wasn’t overly complex–whiffs of lychee, citrus, and stone–and the acidity wasn’t as refreshing as other German wines we’ve had, but it wasn’t flabby and would also make a great accompaniment to spicy Indian or Thai curry–maybe even Mexican food! So all in all, another worthwhile purchase, and fun excursion to the Old World.

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