WTN: Winemaker's Lot No. 11 Riesling 2007

Concha y Toro
Quitralman Vineyward
Bio Bio Valley

Bright yellow in the glass.

Apple and spices on the nose.

Light to medium bodied, dominant lime fruit, grapefruit rind, lemon, lightly honeyed, spicy, nicely tangy, clean, lightly prickly on the tongue, tart, rather fleshy fruit.

Britter grapefruit rind and lime on the tart finish.

A delicious Riesling.

There were two things that surprised me about this wine.

The first was its alcohol content, 13.5 per cent, which, IMHO, is very high for a Riesling.
The second is that, according to information on the back label, 10 per cent of the wine was fermented in large oak barrels and the rest in stainless steel tanks with the entire lot laying on lees for seven months. Oak fermentation? Extended lees contact? That doesn't sound like a Riesling to me.

Screwcap closure.

Purchased at $14.95 (Canadian).

A delicious Riesling.

There were two things that surprised me about this wine.

Oak fermentation? Extended lees contact? That doesn't sound like a Riesling to me..

Interesting.

I guess that shows there are many ways to make wine!

Although I wouldn't have expected much from the Concha y Toro folks.

A delicious Riesling.

There were two things that surprised me about this wine.

Oak fermentation? Extended lees contact? That doesn't sound like a Riesling to me..

Interesting.

I guess that shows there are many ways to make wine!

Although I wouldn't have expected much from the Concha y Toro folks.

I have tried a number of wines from their Winemaker's Lot line and have been impressed with all, especially for the price.

Your note doesn't mention acidity specifically, but suggests that there was enough. Surprising, given the alcohol level and maker. BioBio is one of the few valleys where it rains, and seems to show promise for riesling.

Your note doesn't mention acidity specifically, but suggests that there was enough. Surprising, given the alcohol level and maker. BioBio is one of the few valleys where it rains, and seems to show promise for riesling.

Yes, there was enough acidity.

Fermenting Riesling in large, old ovals is, from what I'm told, not unheard of in Germany; Mondavi used to do it here. If the capacity is large enough, and the wood old enough (whcih sometimes also means tartrate=encrusted), the Riesling fruit is not compromised.

Fermenting Riesling in large, old ovals is, from what I'm told, not unheard of in Germany; Mondavi used to do it here. If the capacity is large enough, and the wood old enough (whcih sometimes also means tartrate=encrusted), the Riesling fruit is not compromised.

So from a functional standpoint, is there any real difference between fermenting in a large, tatrate-encrusted oval vs. a large stainless steel container?

When I visited Hugel, I saw some huge wooden barrels!