Maker: Left Foot Charley, Traverse City, Michigan, USA
Grape: Riesling
Style: Dry
Place of origin: The Terminal Moraine, Old Mission Peninsula AVA, Traverse City, Michigan
Vintage: 2010
Notes: Single vineyard, estate wine. Harvested 10/12/10. 22 Brix at harvest. pH 3.00, TA (?) 8g/L, 1% residual sugar.
ABV: 12.1%
Appearance: Pearly straw.
Nose: Dry but fruity. Under ripe peach, lychee, gravel, fresh squeezed orange juice.
On the palate: Medium bodied and slightly citric. Meyer lemon, lemon thyme, limestone, peach. Shades of Pfalz.
Finish: A little citric, a little sweet, but mostly dry and mineral.
Parting Words: Old Mission Peninsula is currently producing the best Rieslings in Eastern North America. Old Mission can more than hold their own against Rieslings from California and the Pacific Northwest. Left Foot Charley is one of the wineries leading the pack. Their grapes come from Old Mission, but their winery is on the campus of a former insane asylum (no joke!) in Traverse City proper. Don’t let that or the silly name scare you, LFC makes world class wines and ciders of all styles, often with price tags to match.
This wine is described as dry on the label, and it is that, but the label gets a little defensive of the wine’s statistical claim to be dry. Too much math for me, but on the first sip I was instantly reminded of dry Central European Riesling. It is not the bone-chilling dry of an Austrian Riesling but it has a bracing minerality that one does not expect from Michigan. It goes well with food (had mine with grilled sea scallops) but you may find yourself distracted by the wine. Left Foot Charley’s 2010 Dry Riesling is highly recommended.
Sipology 