2006 Pey-Marin Riesling "The Shell Mound", Marin County, California

I can't divorce my sense of this wine from the sense of my interaction with Sue Pey when I tasted it. Weird, isn't it. In trying to talk to Sue, the conversation was so disjointed, off-kilter and unnatural, that the wine came across that way as well. It seemed to be starting and stopping and changing directions and speeds frequently. It's very aromatic for riesling, almost in a Chenin-y kind of way, because it's got a Creamsicle/orange blossom aroma that's very floral, but also very translucent-top-with-no-bra. It's feminine, but forthright, like a Cougar.

The wine shifts gears, showing off a lot of different attributes but few that I typically associate with riesling. It's very steely, very tangy, very minerally, very very. It comes from a celebrated German clone called Neustadt 90 (which Sue types up in a very Teutonic font). It leaves a long, dry, chalky streak across the tongue with it's acidity. I'm not sure if I like it. It seems like it would appeal to a grapefruit eater. It seems to include all the elements of a good white wine, that they'd all be necessary ingredients, but I didn't see, er, taste, the transitions, the integration, the whole.

That said, I would still drink a lot of it. The Shell Mound (named because the area was submerged in prehistoric times, leaving a lot of ocean-floor buildup in the soils) tastes like a hypothetical Loire or Marlborough Riesling that is wound up, tightroping and on tippy-toes. I bought 2 cases. $23

04 Schmitges Riesling Spatlese, Erdener Treppchen, MSR, Germany

Was recommended this one by Joe at DeeVine - if I recall correctly, they are the first US distributors for Schmitges, which always makes me giggle - I think of the Schmitt's Gay commercial from Saturday Night Live in the mid 90's.

Nice, slick modernist packaging makes me believe this is not an old operation. A narrow waistband label sits at the bottom of a flat, flared bottle. It has a distinctive look. 7.5% ABV.

Was excited about '04 Spat as I'm cultivating my taste and I find that the higher I can drive the acidity in wines, the more I'm able to distinguish the different expressions in the wine as well as the different acts in the play. So to speak. A fat wine with little acid or submerged acid is almost a chore to understand. I've literally had to work it around the mouth, wearing away the sort of silicone sweetness until I could get to the inner core. I see now why some people describe this as baby fat. It really does obscure the wine.

True enough, it's an exciting wine and a great deal for that kind of juice. It pops out of it's top with old-vine thick, punchy aromas. It smells so strong, it makes one think of a wildflower honey, syrup or glaze. It's almost heady. I like it when there's some horsepower to the nose. I drink it and it's great. Really dynamic. Lots of acid play all throughout, and it does different things. At the outset, it's almost like it primes/awakens the taste buds. Then it hits a strong tropical sour note to get the mouth watering. This releases a bunch of mixed apple flavors, pineapple, a variety of hints of more tropical, custardy flavors I can't nail down, and then bursts in another phase of acidity, this time with a gush of limoncello flavor. Like a great lemonade or lemon liqueur.

I think it's a good find, and can be purchased from my store or directly from DeeVine in SF.