TN: Riesling - BC - 1, Alsace -0

Had a couple of Rieslings at the end of season bocce match on Sunday. This time out, BC was better than France.

2007 La Frenz Riesling - this Naramata bench winery has always done well with their whites and they ontinue to make what I consider to be the best (and certainly most consistent) BC Riesling. Good varietal nose, although not the sort that will make you think it came from Deutscheland, and although it has, I suspect, a fair bit of RS, it also has tons of balancing acidity. Clean and crisp.

2004 Ch. Isenbourg Riesling Le Clos - well this started off alright with a nose that was pretty true Riseling, but it was all down hill from there, with no Riesling fruit on palate and a strange tang taht made us ask if it were oxidized, yet upon reflection it wasn't. I don't know this producer - and will be a little wary of it in future.

[David M. Bueker]

I have never heard of Isenbourg (isn't that where Saruman lived ), so I am not terribly surprised.

Thanks for the BC Riesling tip though. I will try to find some the next time I go to Canada.

I have never heard of Isenbourg (isn't that where Saruman lived ), so I am not terribly surprised.

It rather tasted like it had been trampled by orcs....

It wasn't familiar, nor were the others, and we are all Alsace fans. A google turns up a luxury hotel, but no winery I could see - maybe they make it in the basement?

PS - the La Frenz is a small artisanal winery and you'd have to look hard for it unless you ever get to BC in which case call me and I'll hook you up. Heck, come out here and we could do an all-Alsatian offline!

[David M. Bueker]

The Pacific NW is on my travel agenda, it's just a case of when.

The Pacific NW is on my travel agenda, it's just a case of when.

Jeez, you two getting together would be like the immovable cellar meeting the irresistible collection

Mark Lipton

We can always find room for one more, Mark......

The wines in the Isenbourg range - Comtes d´Isenbourg, Château les Clos Isenbourg, etc - are all produced by the négociant Dopff et Irion, and are all among the few Alsatian wines that are truly best to avoid .

Greeting from Sweden / Fredrik L

Thanks, Frederik.

Shame on Dopff! No wonder they don't market under their own name.

[Jenise]

The Pacific NW is on my travel agenda, it's just a case of when.

You COULD make an interesting hike out of just getting to Bill's house.

On my last visit to Alsace, I thought that the top end Dopff & Irion wines had really improved. I've never seen their top end stuff here, so maybe that's why they have a such a bad reputation - the negociant wineas they make aren't all that great.