Riesling comes in all styles, from bone dry to almost thick, syrupy sweet. While the drier styles ferment out most to all of the sugar, the sweeter styles have a few more options. While some of the most difficult styles of sweet riesling to produce carry high price tags for small bottles (like Ice Wine), other simpler styles such as Late Harvest offer a sweeter riesling at a reasonable price. By harvesting later, these grapes tend to be riper, and have concentrated sugar, allowing the winemaker to produce a sweeter style. In other parts of the world, a Late Harvest can also refer to a wine touched by noble rot (which produces some of the sweetest, most prized wines) or an ice wine.
Hailing from Washington’s largest American Viticultural Area (AVA), Columbia Valley, 2010 Hogue Late Harvest Riesling should offer an affordable way to try a Late Harvest Riesling from a well known producer. Can this late harvest Riesling help cement the area and vineyards reputations, or should it have been harvested earlier with all the rest? Sweet but not too sweet
