Hermann J. Wiemer Dry Riesling (375ML half-bottle) 2017

Professional Ratings

• 90 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  The 2017 Dry Riesling comes in with seven grams of total sugar, 5.8 of total acidity and 12% alcohol. This is a workhorse wine for Wiemer—6,100 cases produced, a blend of all of the vineyard sites and generally tending to be a third of the winery's total production, more or less. It's why co-owner Fred Merwath considers it the winery's most important bottling, and in this tricky year, the fruit for several single-vineyard sites was declassified to make this better (e.g., Josef Vineyard and Magdalena Vineyard). Perhaps as a result, it shows beautifully, with moderate tension on the long finish and a bright, balanced feel. This, like so many FLX Dry Rieslings, is a fine bargain point in the lineup. It doesn't always show the depth of the best upper-level wines, but sometimes it is not far off. It will age well too—Fred estimates that it can do 15 years. Let's be a little conservative just now and take that in stages, but he's probably right. It will certainly be better and more developed in 2021-2023.