Full disclosure: I have absolutely no experience with Idahoan wines. Well, that's not true. The first one I tried a few weeks ago was corked, but that happens to wines from any region so it's a loss and shouldn't be symbolic of the wines in general. Now that we have that out of the way, let's discuss this 2016 Ste Chapelle Special Harvest Riesling from the Snake River Valley AVA of Idaho. I actually leaped at the chance to taste these wines because I love discovering AVA's and producers that I'm not familiar with. If this 100% Riesling is indicative of what this region can produce, they've got a real winning combination with grapes and terroir.
If you love sweet white wines then this is your jam! If sweet wines turn you off, find something else to drink. I started out with this well-chilled and the honeysuckle, pear, peach and wildflower aromas were really prevalent. As I've said dozens of times, I taste nearly all of my wines around room temperature to get a true picture of the flavor profile, but chilling this wine seemed appropriate, and it was indeed! When you put this in the back of the throat, it is literally mouth-watering and overall, this wine is very welcoming with mellow flavors of apricot, and hints of powdered graphite and candied lemon rind. This wine wants you needing another sip and I think it is a very agreeable with salty ham and cheese pinwheels, New York style cheesecake or even spicy Thai food. If you're unfamiliar with wines from Idaho, I highly recommend you give this one a try.
ABV: 12.0%
Snake River Valley, Idaho
Suggested retail price: $11.99
Drink The Bottles score: 89/100
