RKS Wine: Niagara Riesling: Shall We Get on The Merry Go Round Again?

I think it may be time for me to cease writing about Niagara Riesling. I have scuppered my chance of ever winning a Niagara Academy Award for astute and insightful reporting on Niagara Riesling. Much of it reminds me of a white Basque Txakoli which is so acidic it is poured into the glass a few feet above the glass to help dissipate some of its acidity. It suits just about all manner of seafood beautifully especially the halibut and the marisco soup served in a simple non pretentious restaurant in the Basque region of Spain called Hermandade de Pescadores (located in Hondarribia) perhaps one of the best seafood restaurants in Spain.

Now getting back to the issue of Ontario Riesling we try a Nomad Autumn Snow Riesling from Hinterbrook Estate Winery in Niagara-On-The-Lake which I passed by a couple of weeks ago while in Niagara-On-The-Lake.

It is just about platinum in colour.

On the nose I am picking up peach, mango, tangerine with some lime. The initial pour reminds me of white Vinho Verde from Northern Portugal a rather acidic white.

I brace my palate for a blast of acidity but none of that past experience with so many Niagara Rieslings rushes to my palate. I think I have been suffering from Post Traumatic Riesling Disorder from Niagara Rieslings. This wine has helped with my rehabilitation as it is not awash with brash acidity. No doubt there is acidity but it is laid back sufficiently from triggering my PTRD. There is peach, honey crisp apple with a little bit of sweetness but make no mistake this is an extra dry Riesling more Germanic than one from Niagara. It would suit Halibut in the most wonderful broth prepared by Hermandade de Pescadores!

Perhaps the wine has sharpened my perception of Niagara Rieslings as not being one-dimensional acid bombs convincing me there is a less acidic style quite like Vineland Estates Elevation Riesling. This is a style that I can live with and enjoy and hopefully you can too!

(Nomad Autumn Snow 2020 Riesling, Hinterbrook Estate Winery, Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario, $16.95, 750 mL, 12%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 89/100).