The 2010 Pacific Rim Organic Riesling is 99.7% organic sourced from several of Pacific Rims’ sustainable and organic vineyards in Columbia Valley, Washington. In keeping with the all organic nature of this wine, they use natural yeast to start fermentation. When a winemaker uses natural yeast, that means they use the yeast floating in the air for fermentation, rather than adding a specific amount of commercial yeast to the fermentation vats, this is the old way to make wine. A low alcohol Riesling (10.5%) and somewhere in the middle of very dry and semi-sweet Riesling.
The color is a shiny, pale golden yellow. This Riesling has a very pretty nose, fresh peach, pear, tangerine, pineapple, lime with a perfumed floral edge, sort of like walking through the world’s best fruit stand. The initial sweetness of the fruit is nicely tempered by sour citrus, kind of a Sweetarts effect, but in a good way. It starts with sugary peach and pear, then comes pink grapefruit and apricot, the mid palate adds blood orange with lemon/lime. There is a good amount of acidity, it brings a fizzy sensation to your mouth and the acidity allows the lemon/lime finish to hang around awhile.
The Pacific Rim Organic Riesling is loaded with flavor, if you prefer your Riesling to be dry with a good slap of minerality, the Pacific Rim may not be your cup of tea. But if you like your Riesling to be a rich, hedonistic clash of bright sweet, sour and tart sensations, then you have come to the right place.
