2017 Wines

[The Sophisticated] Party Girl is the first Riesling that Chateau Ridge Springs has produced.  While we’ve made other white wines, it was time to add another member to the family. 

We chose to make this Riesling dry.  Riesling is typically thought of as a sweet wine, but dry Riesling wines are found in Alsace (France), Germany (look for “Trocken” — meaning dry), Washington State labeled as “dry” (like this one), New York State, and Australia mostly from Clare and Eden Valleys.

We decided to leave this one un-oaked, so that the true characteristics of Riesling — apricot, nectarine, peach, apple, pear, pineapple, lime, and Meyer lemon — could peek through.  Chilled, it presents a nose of green apple.

For our label, we chose the model from a 1950’s vintage Mennen shave lather ad by Norman Mingo, because this Riesling is blond, fun, and wide-open — not at all like your average party girl — oh, no!

So, what are you waiting for?  You’ve probably never had a party girl quite like [The Sophisticated] Party Girl; so grab one and this bottle, and practice being sophisticated!

 

Suid-Afrika is the first Chenin Blanc that Chateau Ridge Springs has produced.  And, we thought it was high time we did so!  Chenin Blanc is well-known in South Africa as a grape of distinction.  This production has been unoaked, meaning that it is the Chenin Blanc grape itself that shines through in the character of this wine.

Nearly one-third of the vines planted in South Africa are Chenin Blanc.  Also known as Steen, Chenin Blanc produces a wine that is a very pale straw color boasting a nose of lemon-grass, melon and floral aromas with a slight kiss of honey. It is a dry, medium body white wine with crisp acidity and a clean citrus finish. Chenin Blanc serves as a great accompaniment to lemon chicken, mango salad, lobster bisque or something as exotic as pork loin baked with apples in brandy.

For our label, we chose a 1949 vintage stamp featuring the elephant, which is one of the Big Five mammals in South Africa.  Today there are over 10,000 elephants in Kruger National Park, compared to 120 in 1920.  The stamp also has Afrikaans Posgeld translated as Postage (Posgeld appears over the word Postage).  The value of the stamp (4ḍ) was ¼ penny, which in 1949 was enough to get a letter or postcard across the country.

La Dolce Vita is the first Montepulciano we’ve produced.  The grapes for this wine are widely grown throughout Italy, in particular in the Abruzzo region of east-central Italy.  The Montepulciano grape produces a deeply colored, medium-bodied red wine that has spicy, fruit-forward flavors.  It is smooth and mellow and possesses good aging potential.

We fermented this wine with heavily-toasted American oak, which produces a nose of vanilla and smoke that enhances the fruit flavors of the Montepulciano grape.

We chose a vintage Franco Mosca painting taken from a 1950s camping calendar.  We named our wine, La Dolce Vita, as it’s evident that with your Italian Vespa, Italian Girl, and a bottle of our Italian La Dolce Vita, life is pretty sweet.

La Dolce Vita is great with grilled steaks, beef shish kabobs, or just sipping alongside your camper as you watch an Italian girl as she passes by on her Vespa.