Empire Estate Dry Riesling 2017

Yellow-gold with gray tints. On the nose, fresh apricot, jasmine and orange zest. In the mouth, there's lots of underripe nectarine, some lime zest and a gentle, smooth stoniness that leads to a lean, clean and austere finish. A bright and joyous Riesling.

A well-honed mix of ripe peach and tangerine mix with underscores of white blossoms and slate. The palate is broadly concentrated in ripe fruit flavors of tart kumquat and passion fruit that are struck against a taut, astringent sensation. Persistent bursts of acidity keep this both succulent and tense, making the palate beg for more.

The 2017 Dry Riesling is mostly unoaked, but about 5% was aged for six months in used French oak. It comes in very dry and at 12.4% alcohol. As expected, this is holding well, but it has changed—for the better—since first seen. The youthful fruitiness has moderated, being pulled into the whole. It seems more serious. It's pure, clean, understated and impeccably balanced, although there is still acidic bite on the firm finish. It does not lack for tension. As it warms, it fills the mouth nicely, seeming full-bodied. This has improved in a couple of years. In fact, my retasting it on the second day open truly convinced me how much it had improved. Or maybe I was just unfair to this originally. In any event, this precise Riesling is in beautiful shape. It has plenty of life left, but take that in stages. Drink Date 2020 - 2027