The other evening, I opened a bottle of the AlexEli 2008 Riesling. This is a wine that Jon and I bought when we visited the Oregon WineWorks in McMinnville, Oregon in the fall of 2009. Oregon Wineworks is a cooperative winery, where several wineries share equipment and a tasting room. It is quite close to downtown McMinnville, located in an old brick building that appears to have been a machinist’s shop at one point. They have remodeled the building in a tasteful, modern design, and the result is a friendly, cozy space. The only drawbacks are that there is no natural light in the tasting room, and that makes it rather chilly. But we were there in late fall – and it was raining that day.
I have been meaning to open this wine on several occasions, and for some reason it has never gotten uncorked. I think Jon steers away from Rieslings because he expects them to be too sweet for his taste, so he kept trying to get me to open some other white instead. Until now. I had the opportunity to remember why I like it so much. This is a semi-sweet Riesling, with flavors of peach and Golden Delicious apples. It is a great balance between dry and sweet, and a great complement to Thai or other spicy foods. Now I’m disappointed that I only have one bottle. One thing is for certain – it is time to make another trip down to Oregon WineWorks to try their current vintages.
Wine and History Visited 