WBW#12 Drink Local

My WineBloggingWednesday experience actually turned into WBThursday WBFriday WBSaturday.

This looks like it could be Chile

Or perhaps some mysterious Australian vineyard of the Outback

Actually it's southeastern Utah.  Moab to be precise.  Land of mountain biking, jeep rallies, and points named after kaputt equines.

The Moab area is home to two wineries: Castle Creek & Spanish Valley Vineyards.  I've tasted wine from both.  And let's just say, that the wine industry is, umm, still just getting started in this neck of the woods.  Indeed the wines are improving with each vintage.

Thanks to Lenn's WineBloggingWednesday #12 - Drink Local, I got to delve into Utah wine once again with Spanish Valley Vineyard Riesling

But first a little about the Spanish Valley.  This area is part of the Old Spanish Trail, which ran from Santa Fe (now New Mexico) to the Pueblo de Los Angelos (now swimming pools, movie stars, etc.).  One of the Spanish Trail's most famous travelers may very well have been Silvestre Velez de Escalante (AKA Father Escalante).  Padre E. was a Franciscan missionary who is purported to have been the first white man to go through the state of Utah (while seeking a northern route from Santa Fe to Monterey)

Now back to El Vino..

:
The Skinny
Spanish Valley Vineyards Riesling, '04 ($10)

• Yellow-gold in color with a slightly thick, viscous appearance
• Ripe pear and peach scents coupled with a hint of petrol and earth
• In the mouth the wine tastes fairly sweet.  It seems to lack enough counterbalancing acidity to lift the near-sticky character of the wine.  Chilled, it is quite pleasant.  However, it was just a bit too syrupy for my palette.

**.5 (2.5 stars out of 5)

My take is that these grapes got too ripe in order to make a drier version of Riesling.  However, if you're into slightly sweet wine, mountain biking, and/or hiking; head on over to Moab's Spanish Valley Vineyards.  You'll be able to drink wine against an amazing backdrop.

Comments

[Angellaa]

Hmm, very cognitive post.
Is this theme good unough for the Digg?