Wine of the Week: Eroica Riesling

Wine: Eroica Riesling

Grape: Riesling

Region: Columbia Valley, Wash.

Vintage: 2013

Price: $13.99

Availability: Costco and other retailers

In the glass: Eroica Riesling is a faint citrine-yellow color with a clear bright light-greenish tinged core going out into a fine glass-clear meniscus (rim definition) with light to medium viscosity.

On the nose: There are fresh bright white fruit characteristics with white peach flesh, pomelo pulp, white grape juice, crushed soaked apricots, brewer’s yeast, kaffir lime rind and cool chalky minerals emanating from the bowl.

On the palate: The wine is light, immediately refreshing and well-rounded on the palate, with sliced pears, apricots and red apples. There’s no discernable alcohol or wood, just pure white fruit meat with crushed white currants and applesauce through the midpalate.

The finish is firm with the superb acidity playing a major role in its interplay with the white fruit with hints of minerality and just a lingering touch of white peach.

Odds and ends: With the mercury pushing toward 80 degrees here in early February, what is one to do? Pretend it is spring already, of course, and grab for the nearest refreshing white wine. It was back in 1999 when legendary riesling master and German wine luminary Ernst Loosen approached Chateau Ste. Michelle about forming a partnership that would center around riesling grown and vinified exclusively in the Columbia Valley, which was believed to be ideal for this native German grape variety.

Loosen, with a couple of hundred years of riesling cultivation in the family and ownership in some of the greatest vineyards in Germany, was a natural partner for Ste. Michelle, whose Cold Creek riesling had so piqued the good doctor’s interest. Eroica is also the name of Beethoven’s third symphony, and one befitting something that combines the classicism of German riesling with the New World terroir of Washington’s Columbia Valley. The result was stunning almost from the beginning and it is easily the greatest riesling made in this country; this, the newest vintage, is a particularly great example.

This is a delicious wine that is a miracle with Thai food or spicy Mexican food, as it is about the only beverage that can quench the heat of chili. Cool it to about 50 degrees and drink it now through 2018.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz’s wine column appears on Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com.