Seattle Oyster-Guru Jon Rowley has been organizing Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition for 19 years. Never ever has a Riesling made it to the list of winners. But this changed in the past competition. For the first time, a Riesling was selected as perfect fit for oysters: the Trefethen Family Vineyards 2012 Dry Riesling.
See:
The 10 Winners of the 2013 Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition, USA
The 2012 Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition - 10 Oyster Wines
The Best Wines for US West Coast and Other Oysters
In July this year, the world of Riesling returned to Seattle in Washington State. The attraction was the 4th Riesling Rendezvous, a gathering of Riesling producers and enthusiasts from around the world. Riesling Rendezvous is sponsored by Chateau Ste. Michelle, the Washington State giant wine producer and Weingut Dr. Loosen, one of Germany’s top Riesling producers from the Mosel Valley. The famous Eroica Riesling from Washington State is a joint venture of Ste. Michelle and Dr. Loosen. Riesling Rendezvous is the largest international gathering of Riesling producers and enthusiasts in the world.
See:
Photo Album: 4th Riesling Rendezvous (2013) in Seattle, Washington State, USA
The 4th Riesling Rendezvous in Seattle: Impressions from the Grand Tasting at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, Washington State, USA
The World of Riesling in Seattle - Fourth Riesling Rendezvous in Washington State, USA
Winemaker Zeke Neeley of Trefethen Family Vineyards in California came up to Seattle to participate in the 4th Riesling Rendezvous. Zeke Neeley and Jon Rowley, the organizer of the Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition, put together a little event on the side of the 4th Riesling Rendezvous, where guests had the chance to taste some Kumamotos with the Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition 2013 Oyster Award-winning Trefethen 2012 Dry Riesling.
Trefethen Family Vineyards
Trefethen Vineyards was established in 1886 as Eshcol, a biblical word for “lush cluster of grapes.” Following retirement from a successful career with Kaiser Industries, Eugene Trefethen along with his wife Katie purchased Eshcol in 1968. They also purchased seven farms surrounding a magnificent, but run-down, 19th-century winery in southern Napa Valley and created Trefethen Family Vineyards. The couple’s intention was to sell all their grapes, but their son John had other ideas. In 1973, aided by his new bride Janet, John produced Trefethen Vineyards’ first commercial wine.
True to the family’s vision of creating an acclaimed wine estate, they have never purchased outside grapes and are leaders in sustainable winegrowing. Today, the Trefethen family’s third generation, Loren and Hailey, assist their parents in continuing the family tradition of passion for the land, its people, and the art of crafting exceptional Napa Valley wines.
Recently, Trefethen Family Vineyards has achieved a milestone in its sustainability program by becoming one of the few California wineries to be 100 percent solar-powered.
Eugene Trefethen died in 1996 and Katie Trefethen died in 2007.
Riesling
Worldwide, there are about 34.000 hectares planted with Riesling. Germany – with 22.400 hectares – accounts for 2/3 of the total. The second largest Riesling producer is Australia, with 4500 hectares. But this is only about 1/10 of the total. Alsace follows with 3500 hectares.
Austria, the US with Washington State and New York State as well as New Zealand make up the remainder. But overall, Riesling is really a niche wine, accounting for only less than 1 percent of total wine production in the world - but a very special niche wine.
Dry and Sweet Riesling
Many wine drinkers, in particular outside of Europe, when they see a Riesling in the shelves, have the association of a sweet-style wine. This is however misguided. Rieslings as a rule are dry wines. Of course, there are the famous sugar sweet Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese, Eiswein and Schilfwein wines from Austria and Germany, the Sélection de Grains Nobles from France, the icewines from Canada and other Rieslings, made from botrytized, dried or frozen grapes.
The grapes that go into these wines have such a high sugar content that there is nothing you can do to make dry wines out of these grapes. They inevitably produce nobly sweet wines. But apart from these specialty wine, which account for only a tiny share of total production, Riesling grapes in Germany, Austria, Alsace, the US and Australia have normal sugar content at the time of fermentation and tend to produce dry wines, when fully fermented.
However, modern cellar methods allow winemakers in Germany (and elsewhere) to produce wines with a bit of residual sugar with these grapes. These are exceptional wines, essentially made by not letting the fermentation going its full course so that natural sugar remains in the wine. Alternatively, German winemakers are allowed to add sweet-reserve (sterilized grape juice) to increase the sweetness level in the wine, but today, this is mostly done, if at all, for fine tuning the residual sweetness. These fruity-sweet wines are the wines that are so popular among the fans of German wine in the world. These sweet-style wines have lost popularity in Germany, although there appears to be a comeback, but in any case remain very popular outside of Germany, for example in the US. Anyway, they are very present in Germany’s export markets, but account only for a small share of total German wine production. Steffen Christmann, the President of the VDP, the German elite wine maker association, estimates that 95% of German wine beyond a price point of Euro 15 is dry.
4 Types of Oysters
The judges consumed about 1200 Kumamoto oysters. The Kumamoto belongs to the family of Pacific oysters. In fact, it is one of the most famous Pacific oysters. But oysters are found all over the world. I recently had delicious oysters in South Africa and Madagascar, which are typically not on the radar of the mainstream oyster eater.
I distinguish 4 types of oysters:
The Pacific
Originally from Japan, the Pacific or Japanese oyster is the most widely cultured oyster in the world. It accounts for 75% of world production. In France, it has crowded out the Belon and now accounts for 99% of oyster production there. Gone are the days of the Belon in Paris. The Pacific oysters are marketed under a variety of names, often denoting their growing area. The Kumamoto is one of the most famous Pacific oysters. I tend to think of a Pacific oyster as a creamy oyster, with a mineral note.
The Olympia
The Olympia is a very small oyster seldom exceeding 2 inches. For comparison, in Massachusetts, oysters must be a minimum of 3 inches to be sold. Olympia is a native American oyster, which once flourished on the West Coast, before the Pacific took over. Olympias are hard to find today as they grow very slowly and are difficult to transport. They hold very little liquid and dry out quickly. The Olympia has a very full flavor with a distinct aftertaste.
The Atlantic
Another American native, there are many varieties of Atlantic oysters, such as the Malpeque from Prince Edward Island in Canada and the Blue Point from Long Island in New York State. Bluepoints were originally named for Blue Point, Long Island but now the term is generally applied to any Atlantic oyster two four inches long. These two are now the most common restaurant oysters in the US. Also called Eastern oyster, the Atlantic has a thick, elongated shell that ranges from 2 to 5 inches across. It's found along the Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico in the US.
The Belon
The Belon, or European Flat, is Europe’s native oyster. The Belons are round and shallow. That’s why they are called Flats. They are also not very liquid and dry out fast. They have a long history. They used to grow in Brittany, Normandy, England, Spain, Holland, Greece and the Black See. But a disease is wiping them out worldwide. The Flats from the Belon river in Brittany were at some point the connoisseur’s top choice and the name was soon adopted by all oyster growers, a bit like the Blue Points from Long Island. The Belon oyster grows in limited quantity in Maine on the rocks of the Damariscotta river bed.
For more on the different kinds of oysters, see:
Oysters and Wine
Trefethen 2012 Dry Riesling with Kumamoto Oysters
Not every wine goes with oysters - a vibrant combination of minerals, sweetness and the sea. In general, first, I always try to go local. Second, the best oyster wines are dry, crisp, clean-finishing white wines, both sparkling and still. I avoid red wines, although in South Africa I had a Cabernet Sauvignon with my oysters on the half shell, as suggested.
The 2012 Trefethen Dry Riesling was fermented and aged in stainless steel. It is a classic dry Riesling:
Bright in its focus, crisp and dry, notes of jasmine, orange blossom and lime on the nose that lead to floral flavors on the palate, delightful acidity and minerality, with a clean, lasting finish.
Dan Berger: “Classic Riesling aroma with a trace of jasmine spice, bright and lilting. Always a phenomenal wine...."
At the 4th Riesling Rendezvous, the 2010 Trefethen Dry Riesling, was one of the 20 wines of the International Riesling Tasting (Dry), which was a blind tasting. Neil Pike reviewed the wine: “Classic wine, citrus, a lot of texture, a bit of pair flavors, we are in the New World I think.”
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