May 27, 2004

Riveting Riesling
by Steve Pitcher

California dry Riesling is peachy to drink, with its apricot juiciness, refreshing flashes of bright citrus fruit and the tangy quality of slightly tart green apple, all framed by brisk natural acidity.

Stony Hill Vineyard
This small winery tucked away on the slopes of the Spring Mountain District has produced dry Riesling since 1957, from estate grapes planted in the late 1940s in the western hills above St. Helena.

"My father obtained the bud wood from Inglenook," says proprietor Peter McCrea in reference to the winery's founder, Fred McCrea. "Most of the Riesling vines have been replanted since then, because of Pierce's disease, but we still have some of the old-timers in production and we are still using the original clone. Our Riesling comes from dry-farmed vines that are between 5 and 55 years old."

The Stony Hill style for both its Rieslings has from the beginning emphasized the tight, tart flinty minerality that can be attributed to the volcanic soil and the microclimate of the mountainside vineyard. The ability of this wine to age is legendary.

Sitting down with Peter, his wife Willinda and winemaker Mike Chelini, we tasted 10 selected Stony Hill White Rieslings spanning 30 vintages, from 1973 to 2003. The 1973 was medium gold in color and offered perky aromas of minerals, subtle white fruit (think quince, pear and apple) and a hint of petrol, which Riesling enthusiasts are happy to find. Round and somewhat fleshy on the plate with crisp aciidity, the wine tasted of apricot and quince enhanced by notes of honeycomb and flinty minerality.

The other wines followed suit, some showing more white flower aromas; a couple had a touch of earthiness (which blew off after some airing to reveal dried apricot and peach), one with intriguing white pepper notes, another hinted at anise, and all possessed evident minerality and crisp acidity, displaying a purity of fruit that was impressive.

The youngest wines, from 2002 ($15) and the soon-to-be-released 2003, were more fruity in aromas and flavors than their more mature cellar mates, but still tight in the plate, arguing for time in the cellar.

"People always ask us when our wines are ready to drink," Peter McCrea says. "Based on our recent experience, we find that if a wine has been cellared at a constant 60-degree temperature, it will reach its prime in five to 10 years. But since each wine and each vintage develops at a slightly different rate, and some people prefer you fresh wines while others prefer mature, rich wines, we suggest that you yourself taste them periodically to determine when you would most enjoy drinking them. There is no 'right' or 'wrong' as far as your taste buds are concerned.

Winemaker Chelini, who was trained by Fred McCrea and has been with the winery for almost 30 years, says that in making Riesling, "I typically ferment half the wine down to 1 to 1.5 percent residual sugar in stainless steel in 10 to 30 days. The other half I ferment dry in aged, 172-gallon puncheons from Germany, at which time I blend the two lots.

"After years of experimenting, we have found that 0.85 percent residual sugar is about as low a residual sugar as we can have and still maintain a bouquet in this wine. One year we make it totally dry and ended up with a wine that took six years to develop any bottle bouquet.

"I always tout our Riesling as a perfect match with Dungeness crab," Peter says, "but also suggest that people try it with Thai and other spicy Asian food. One of our Southern friends insists, "This is mah 'summah sippin' wine."

Most of the Stony Hill wines are sold to restaurants and directly to consumers (some loyalists have been on the mailing list since the 1950s).