Something unique happened with this week's WWD…the whole team got in on the "riesling and rose" theme this month. It's almost as though I asked them to do so. Okay — I did.

Tom Mansell: Sheldrake Point Vineyards 2007 Dry Rosé

For a month of rieslings
and rosés, I decided to chill down a Finger Lakes pink with a little bit
of age on it.

If I remember correctly, this is a rosé of mostly cabernet franc. The color on this is a nice
salmon-heading-towards-copper.

Wild strawberry comes to mind after some thought but the fruit is
very well-integrated with some citrus peel, perhaps shaped a bit by
age.

The nose is promising, but the palate comes up a bit short. Short
on acidity and finish, to be exact.  A touch more acid would make this
rosé much more refreshing, but I'm not really one to talk about having a
little flabbiness here and there. 

Despite its 13% ABV, it lacks in the
mid-palate and the finish is somewhat fleeting.  An interesting
Cinnamon Toast Crunch note comes up on the finish (diacetyl?).

I had laid this one down in hopes of doing a rosé vertical to check
out how some Finger Lakes rosés age. I'm still interested in doing that, though I
don't expect I'll be able to find another one of these easily unless
there are a few in Bob Madill's basement.

What do you guys think about aging rosé? 

Evan Dawson: Muller-Catoir 2007 Riesling Kabinett Pfalz Mussbach

In
New York state, there is a riesling designation known as "semi-sweet"
that drives me semi-insane. To me, it comes off as a condescending wink
to the customer:

"Can't handle dry wine? Don't worry, child, here is
something sweet."

This Pfalzian Kabinett — the
sweetest Kabinett I've ever had, based on RS — would undoubtedly be
herded into that semi-sweet category. And yet it is entirely serious,
thoughtful, and balanced. There must be 3% RS or more here (our host
guessed 4%), and its oily viscosity is fascinating. 

We
enjoyed this wine with food before dinner, and after dinner it became a
contemplative stand-alone. A sweet — nothing "semi" about it – way to
begin and end the evening.

Bryan Calandrelli: Calandrelli Selections Riesling 2008

What better wine to write about during Riesling month than ones own homemade Calandrelli Selections 2008 Riesling?

Okay, I'm sure there are several more interesting wines out there but I thought I'd write about something no one else has tasted yet.

To be honest, I neglected my 2008 whites for too long. This wine should
have been bottled a year ago instead of 3 weeks ago. With that
procrastination and absence of enough sulphites there are some oxidative notes on the
nose and a premature golden appearance.

That being said it's totally drinkable with aromas of pear, apricot,
almond and a touch of petrol. With only .625% added sugar, it's still brisk
with no perceivable sweetness. It's lean and mean on the palate as I opted to
keep it refreshing with a good dose of acidity.

This wine had much potential as I had a long cool ferment with Wadenswil
27 yeast of grapes from Freedom Run Winery. Ultimately though I should have been on top of this wine earlier as I've gotten used to the long elevage
of reds.

With 2 cases produced though I'm just happy to have some wine I
can
open this summer without worrying about my wine budget.

Lenn Thompson: Fox Run Vineyards 2001 Dry Riesling

There wasn't any real drinking for me this past weekend — exhausting work hours (including an all-nighter) made sure of that.

But a week ago today, hot off the heels of TasteCamp, I opened this bottle of riesling.

Yes. Riesling. Sure, my teeth and gums were still stinging a bit from all of the acidity from the weekend-long tastefest, but several opportunities to taste older wines throughout inspired me to open this one up.

True to what Peter Bell, Fox Run's winemaker, said as he poured several library wines for us, this dry riesling didn't hold up as well as the reserve and semi-dry wines.

It showed nice mature aromas and flavors — petrol, orange marmalade, marzipan and a little herbal edge — but there wasn't enough acidity here to frame it.

And yet, I still enjoyed drinking it — quite a bit. It's a pleasure to explore older wines, even if they aren't peaking.