Reviews

Featherstone 2006 Old Vines Riesling
Did someone say sixteen bucks for an old vines Riesling? Better be snapping that one up quick before they realize they’ve made a pricing error. This is the first time Featherstone has separated the Riesling from their vineyard into age designation. Dave Johnson has created an elegant and finesse-laden Riesling from some of the oldest vines in Niagara, rivaling those from both Vineland and Cave Springs for the title (30 years). He still keeps a dollop of sweetness (1) and by all rights this wine should be selling for double the price it does here, as it does elsewhere. It’s a true bargain. This racy and minerally driven wine has apple, orange blossom and lime in both the nose and taste. The good acidity keeps the mouth watering and you coming back for more. The best part is the lingering finish. While it sits in the glass it opens up even more on both the taste and the smell, revealing more tropical and further citrus notes. Snap it up, drink it up … or lie it down, this one should also age beautifully.
2006
White
Riesling
0
$16
Canada
Ontario
Niagara Peninsula
at the winery
http://www.featherstonewinery.ca
2011-06-28
(Re-Tasted September 2012) ... This was not the first Riesling we opened on this Saturday afternoon - the first was a Dolomite 2006 (same year) from Cave Spring Cellars, it unfortunately was oxidized ... considering we did not have another bottle cold I decided to open up another Riesling from the same year, though different producer. This old vines Riesling is still holding onto its mineral component but is losing the battle with petrol, which seems to overwhelm most of the smells and flavours. Everything I can mention as a flavour or aroma has a petrol note attached: there's apricot and petrol, poached pear and petrol and a little lime pith and petrol ... though I have to hand it to this wine, it shucks the petrol on the the lingering finish so that it does not taste like you've sucked back a whole jerry-can of gasoline. (Re-Tasted December 2010) ... Holy Hanna, is this a mouth puckering wine or what? Obviously a rhetorical question. Tonight we opened a 4 year old bottle of Featherstone's Old Vines Riesling, made from, at the time, 30 year old vines, some of the oldest in Niagara. The nose doled out a citrus stoniness while the palate was big on lemon and mineral and nice balancing acidity. The finish reminded me of sucking on an apple core - there's flavour there but there are all the pits; but by no means is that to insinuate this wine is the pits, in fact it is it's polar opposite ... still delightful and a wonderful pairing with fish.

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