West Coast Riesling: It's Pretty Good, Does Anyone Care?

There are Chardonnay lovers, Sauvignon Blanc people, and Pinot Grigio drinkers galore, but Riesling gets no love. There seems to be no respect for premium Riesling from the West Coast.

This German Riesling is a Kabinett trocken
and it's a Pradikatswein! That, and being
Gatsabfullung means this is the good stuff.
(Yeah, easy for you to say)

The big issue with American Riesling is when you see a bottle how to you know if it's dry, off-dry, semi-sweet, or dessert wine sweet? Unless the winery tells you on the label you don't know. In Germany, Riesling has named quality, ripeness, and sweetness levels.

California 

There are 2,600 acres of Riesling in California, and that number hasn't really changed in years. In the cooler coastal areas where most premium Riesling is planted, Monterey and Santa Barbara have the most acreage.

Smith-Madrone, in the Spring Mountain region of Napa Valley, has been around since 1971. That's not remarkable except that Stu and Charlie Smith founded the winery and continue to run it today. They are known for their Cab and Chard, but the Riesling has a loyal following. Napa has quite a few other wineries making Riesling.

There are numerous Sonoma County wineries producing Riesling. There are potential sites in the cooler, windswept areas near the Pacific, but people are more interested in planting Pinot Noir or Chardonnay for economic reasons.

Perhaps the best spot in Northern California for Riesling is the Anderson Valley in Mendocino County. Riesling was the darling of Anderson Valley until Pinot Noir came along. Navarro Winery is the one that caught my eye long ago. 

The Central Coast down to Santa Barbara is another area for good Riesling.

 

Oregon

There are about 500 acres of Riesling in Oregon, a grape that was 25% of the state's vineyards in 1980. What happened? Pinot Noir happened. Riesling is very much a niche wine in Oregon made in small quantities by maybe 50 wineries scattered throughout the state. 

Oregon Riesling has some wine industry people claiming it's the best in the country. A couple of the more well known Oregon producers are Argyle and Brooks. 

  

Washington

Washington has 7,200 acres of Riesling planted, most in the Columbia Valley region. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most planted grape by far, followed by Chardonnay, Merlot, Riesling, and Syrah. The state has a good reputation for Riesling. Their growing season is marked by large daily temperature swings and many hours of daylight. This gives the wine nice fruit and the crisp acidity Riesling is known for. 

Washington's St. Michelle Winery is the largest producer of Riesling in the world. Once you get past their domination of the Riesling market there are plenty of other small producers.

 

This Sonoma Valley winery has been
making Riesling for a long time.
The label gives you enough info to figure
out what's in the bottle, a dessert wine. 

British Columbia

Farther north the Okanogan region of BC is famous dry, high acid, low alcohol Riesling. Tantalus might be the best known winery for Riesling in BC. I have relatives who are big German Riesling fans. They make occasional trips from the U.S. South East to BC for the Riesling.

 

New York and Michigan are other well-known producers.