Winery: Badger Mountain
Brand/Type: Riesling, Organic, NSA (No Sulfites Added)
Vintage: 2005
Country: USA
Region: Columbia Valley, Washington
Alcohol content: 12%
Closure: Screwcap
Appearance: Light straw
Aroma/Bouquet: Melon, apricot, and tangerine
This Kabinett style Riesling is one of the best west coast Rieslings around. It’s dry to slightly off-dry (2004 was off-dry) and nicely complex. It delivers a sweet-tart melon/green apple taste then bounces to a tangerine-citrus sensation and leaves with a distinct but pleasant (and very even) mineral finish. It’s not syrupy like some Rieslings but very crisp and mature.
Badger Mountain uses 100% certified organic grapes for this NSA (No Sulfites Added) Riesling. In fact all of Badger Mountain’s wines are certified organic and many are without added sulfites. This is fantastic choice for anyone who suffers from a sulfite allergy. All wines contain sulfites, they’re a naturally occurring part of the fermentation process, but only a few vintners go out of their way to avoid adding them. Badger Mountain proves that you don’t really need to add them to make an excellent wine.
This year Badger Mountain has also moved to screw caps. This is a good thing. We’re happy to see more wineries moving to this closure. Cork is for snobs and Luddites. Maybe you can eBay your Campagnolo corkscrew if enough wineries abandon corks altogether? Then you could afford a case or two of Badger Mountain Organic Riesling!