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WINE OF THE WEEK, May 05, 2013

WASHINGTON HILLS, WASHINGTON STATE LATE HARVEST RIESLING 2011 $8.99

I prefer dry (not sweet) wines, but some people enjoy sweet wines, so I've chosen this Riesling (pronounced REEsling) as the Wine of the Week. It is called late harvest: a technical term, signifying that the grapes were afforded extra time on the vine in order to develop further sugar and to deepen and intensify flavor. Its alcohol content is low, 11% - a big red is around 14% - because the fermentation process (yeast + sugar=alcohol) was stopped early so that the yeast did not turn all the sugar into alcohol. All wine, even the driest reds, have some residual sugar, just as all wine contains some residual sulfites, a naturally occurring result of the fermentation process. Contrary to popular belief, no wine is entirely free of sulfites. Read the label carefully on an organic wine. It should say either: no sulfites detected, or no added sulfites. 5% of the population is allergic to sulfites. Generally, sulfites are added to white wine as a stabilizer, to give it a longer shelf-life. In most cases, the tannins in red wine act as a stabilizer. Washington Hills, Late Harvest Riesling, is medium-sweet, with intense flavors of honeyed apricots and peaches. Serve it well-chilled, circa 55 degrees. Uses: I suspect that it would overpower any food, so why not enjoy it on its own out on the deck or as an after-dinner drink, or, perhaps make a wine spritzer: ice, 4oz. wine, 2oz club soda, a slice of fruit as a garnish. The screw cap closure, which, I feel, will be universal in the not-too-distant future, makes it convenient. There is, however, no romantic pop with a screw cap.