Crown Valley Winery

It is an unfortunate fact that most American wine drinkers limit their thoughts on Riesling to the cloying, mass-produced Riesling so popular two decades ago. Riesling is wallpaper, they surmise: a background that is tolerable when not studied closely, something to lean against or obscure with a cheap lithograph. The paintings of American abstraction artist Jackson Pollock have also been declared “wallpaper” by a myopic critic, yet David Geffen sold one of his paintings last year for $140 million.

The non-vintage Crown Valley Riesling Dry, priced somewhat shy of $140 million ($16 per 750mL bottle, to be exact) is not aggressive or emotive, but it is not wallpaper either. Chill it in the fridge, then let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, and you will have a wine perfect for guests to sip as you prepare an olive chicken, tomatillo quesadilla, or other light white-meat entrée.

The nose and taste are restrained from those amazing German counterparts, but, for the price, this is a wine to buy in bulk. It exhibits what dry Riesling can be (although there is some residual sweetness): light-bodied, slightly minerally, with distinct shades of white tea.

A fine Riesling from the Mosel Valley can be a masterpiece in itself, something to hang on the blank wall of a fine museum. The Crown Valley Riesling Dry can be, not wallpaper, but just the wine to frame a fun meal, an accompaniment to a masterpiece of food, fellowship, and atmosphere.

Reviewed December 14, 2007 by Tim Pingelton.