2018 Stirm Riesling, Wirz Vineyard, Cienega Valley, San Benito County, California (750ml)   

Riesling enjoyed a massively popular era in California, the U.S., and Europe for over one hundred years (1850's-1960's). At times in this era, the greatest Riesling's were higher in price than the fabled wines of Bordeaux. Riesling was one of the most widely planted varieties in California, from the Santa Cruz Mountains to Napa.

The Wirze Vineyard was farmed by Pat Wirz. This old-vine, dry-farmed vineyard was first planted in 1902 to Zinfandel, Mission (Rosa del Perù), Mataro, Orange Muscat, Carignan, and the local specialty Cabernet Pfeffer. The Riesling was planted later in 1964. It's located at about 920-1000 feet in the Gabilan Mountains about twenty miles north of the Pinnacles National Monument in the Cienega Valley AVA (San Benito County).

From the producer: The 2018 growing season was one of the mildest growing seasons in recent memory. Less than average rainfall during the winter months, though the March rains proved to be a savior. The late rains coupled with very cool weather set back the physiological development of all the vine cycles from flowering to fruit set a couple of weeks compared with 2018. Other than the usual heat during June and July, the late summer conditions were very mild and allowed us to ripen fruit later than ever with very slow sugar accumulation and high acid retention.