Maker: St. Julian, Paw Paw, Michigan, USA
Varieties: Albariño, Riesling
Place of origin: Lake Michigan Shore AVA, Michigan, USA.
Vintage: 2018
ABV: 12.5%
Price: $19
Appearance: Medium gold.
Nose: Meyer lemon, ripe peach, pineapple sage.
Palate: Medium bodied and dry. Pineapple, peach, lemon verbena.
Finish: Talk, a little chalk.
Parting words: There’s not a lot of Albariño being grown in Michigan, but it grows well in its temperate homeland in Northwestern Spain so seems like a perfect fit for our climate. Riesling, we already know, is perfect for our climate. So why not stretch that Albariño with the noblest of grapes?
There’s more than just stretching going on here, though. These two grapes are blended seamlessly into a crisp, dry, but still fruity white wine that is very food friendly. Albariño/Riesling is part of St. Julian’s experimental black label line, but it deserves to be a regular offering. I hope there’s enough Michigan Albariño around to do that!
St. Julian Albariño/Riesling 2018 is highly recommended.
Sipology 