2025 Riesling
"Talk of mysteries! — Think of our life in nature, — daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it, — rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! The solid earth! The actual world! The common sense! Contact! Contact! Who are we? Where are we?" - Henry David Thoreau
Most days, it's pretty easy for me to get lost in a vineyard job. I treasure those tranquil times, as they serve to refresh my self-worth and give me an authentic confidence when speaking to visitors and friends about the wines that I love to make. Interestingly, some places on the farm are more conducive to deep thought and reflection, and my time spent in Jean's Block has proven to be especially so.
Working alone in a vineyard, with boots touching the soil, provokes intense feelings of connection to the natural world and humility about our place within it. Vineyard jobs require constant attention to detail, but ultimately become innate as you progress from vine to vine and row to row. The true "vinelightenment" occurs when your physical body is still doing the job at a high level of precision, but your mind is free to explore a deeper connection. For a fleeting moment, I am one with Riesling.
Thoughts turn to how the season will unfold and the stark reality of best laid plans. There will be Botrytis, oh yes, but now is not the time to let that seep into your consciousness. Out of nowhere, your physical body is suddenly aware of how hot it is and the task at hand becomes more like actual work. Thankfully, this is where a self-preserving satisfaction component usually kicks in and you begin to envision how the end product will be improved by the job you are currently doing - so much so that you can almost smell and taste it!
And so goes another quiet day in Jean's Block.
I don't know if I could have anticipated the resultant intensity of the 2025 Riesling during those quiet days, but I certainly had hopes. Dry vintages can be a tricky proposition for growing aromatic whites, with particular attention paid to preserving natural acidity and staving off stress-induced characters. If you can thread that needle, there is a chance for something concentrated and intense to result.
The 2025 Riesling is a showcase of just that, in the form of apple, pear, elderflower and citrus. This wine was left slightly off-dry, but possesses sneaky natural acidity to balance the residual sugar. I truly enjoy crafting the wines from this Clone 49 block of Riesling, as much for the therapeutic process as for the end result.