2019 St. Julian Braganini Reserve Mountain Road Riesling, Lake Michigan Shore
Double Gold Award at the Tasters Guild Competition
Tasting Notes
Dry, yet impeccably balanced, this wine bursts with flavors of passion fruit, honeyed peach, and tangy citrus fruits. Light-bodied with crisp acidity and aromas of lime, green apple, and lemon. Grown at our Mountain Road Estate Vineyard, this wine is the perfect choice for Grüner Veltliner and Sauvignon Blanc drinkers. Pairs well with fish tacos, pasta primavera, and teriyaki chicken.
Specs
Vintage: 2019
Appellation: Lake Michigan Shore
Acid: 7.40
pH: 3.07
Residual Sugar: 0.50
Alcohol: 12%
What’s Included
6-bottles:
6x 2019 St. Julian Braganini Reserve Mountain Road Riesling, Lake Michigan Shore
Case:
12x 2019 St. Julian Braganini Reserve Mountain Road Riesling, Lake Michigan Shore
St. Julian has been owned and operated by the same family for four generations. Our passion for local farms, 100% Michigan fruit, and the production of quality wine and juice has been upheld for over 100 years. This long-term commitment to quality fruit from Michigan has made us the most-awarded winery in Michigan.
St. Julian’s Mountain Road Estate Vineyard is located in Michigan’s premier grape-growing region, the Lake Michigan Shore Appellation. Located just 5 miles from Lake Michigan, the lake acts as a temperature moderator which allows for longer growing seasons. The highest quality wines are produced with grapes grown from this vineyard and have received countless awards.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Today I’m lucky enough to have the opportunity to taste this Lake Michigan Shore Riesling on behalf of the community! Alas, this is somewhat rushed, as the wine just arrived this afternoon, and I didn’t have a chance to open it until just a few hours ago.
So I’ve read a little tiny bit about Michigan wine, but have not yet tasted one myself, so this is a first for me. And I enjoy both sweet and dry Rieslings, so I was excited when I opened the box!
The first glass shows a light straw hue, and a sniff gives me a bright, clean aroma, and… I’m gonna call them vegetal notes. On first open, there’s hint of a sour note, which I almost always get when opening a young wine, especially screwcapped, and not giving it time to breathe. That blows off pretty quickly.
This tastes dry to me, with some light white fruit in the flavor. The fruit comes out much more on the third or so glass; as it opens up it gets richer and more forward. This could also be it warming up. The acidity is sharp and gives this a good bite on the tongue, which complements the vegetal notes in the aroma pretty well, I think. There’s a hint of the vegetal in the mouth, but for me this is primarily an aromatic component.
I don’t have a ton of Riesling, but I do enjoy them. And now that I read the back label, I think I do notice a little more sweetness than the dry Riesling I’ll occasionally pick up. It’s been too long to really compare, but I would like to taste this alongside Hugel’s Classic Riesling… this is definitely drier, though.
Stationed in Germany for 18 months in the early 70’s, Riesling was a frequent staple! Our supply came from local farmers that stored their bottles in their barns under piles of straw. We’d fill our Bota bags & hike up into the mountains to spend the day! My experience with St Julian over the years includes Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Catherman’s Port, & Solera Cream Sherry. I remember their wines as being nice at the offer price point, with their port and cream sherry being very nice. I no longer drink a lot of Reisling because of the sometimes petrol taste. Although I’ve moved mainly to dry reds, it’s great to see St Julian back! Hope there are more Rat inputs on this offer!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations).
2019 St. Julian Winery Michigan Riesling - $20 = 13.33%
@woopdedoo Augh. Apparently I don’t drink enough of it to remember how to spell the grape correctly. Thanks for the reminder… too bad I cannot edit my post now.
@woopdedoo@worbx Indeed it is “Rees-ling” and if you can do it (I can’t), “Rrrrees-ling” with the rolled-R that my Swiss mother can do but I could never do unless it sounds forced and pretty awful.
However at one point I said if I got a new cat I would probably want to name it Riesling because it’s such a fun name to try to say (especially with the “R” thing). If I had a herd of cats they would be Gewurtztraminer and Mourvedre and maybe Carignane. (BTW @woopdedoo can you help us pronounce Mourvedre? I try to do the French thing like it’s supposed to be but it never sounds natural.).
@pmarin@worbx Reminds me of our local public radio host (shout-out to Melissa Ingells - now at Wisconsin Public Radio), who could pronounce every composer and conductor and musician perfectly - quite amazing and wonderful!
@klezman It’s strange I never see that on West Coast wines. And I’m OK with that because usually I buy from producers I know or read reviews and if possible dig up %RS or g/L stats. Mostly I know what style producers and regions tend to do.
I was surprised when spending time further Eastern-US where Aldi is popular for “bargain” wines, and nearly everything has that scale on it. I thought it was an Aldi thing. (We don’t have Aldi in the West – just Grocery Outlet). TJs is now pretty-much everywhere.
Anyway the sweetness scale is I think useful especially if trying totally unknown (possibly bargain) things. Unfortunately in recent years my experience with anything sold at those Eastern stores is pretty much not my thing. When I have tried them I regretted it. I don’t think the cheap bargain wine market is as promising as it used to be.
I didn’t know this was some sort of general-purpose scale outside of Aldi and some grocery chains. Is it more common than I assumed? Anyway the sweetness of this matches the RS % shown – not super-sweet but certainly not “dry.” It might be a “sweet spot” (pun intended) for me as a way to try this. I do like the “mineral” aspects of Riesling and have never tried anything from this region.
@pmarin Scott puts it on his Riesling, I think. And his Old -> New World scale on his other wines I thought he said was based on it. I’ve also seen it on Finger Lakes wines and some from Ontario. I’ve seen it on proper good quality German wines, too, although definitely those made for retail more than for the cognoscenti. Check out the labels from Red Newt to see the best version - pH, TA, RS, and the IRF Scale.
But yeah, for any Riesling that I don’t know well, it’s super helpful to know what I’m buying and/or opening any given evening.
My first real wine experience was Rieslings in Germany when I was 17 (a long while ago). I was fortunate to have been drinking Rheingau (note the ei and eye pronunciation) Rieslings which were imprinted on me as the “standard”. Little did I know at the time, I was drinking some of the best Rieslings in the world - at the time a bottle was cheaper than bottled water. Anyway, it is a blathering way of saying that I now rate every Riesling against a Rheingau (German wines are labelled by specific regions - then by harvest time/RS, approximately) For many years I had no other wine “knowledge”. And for the subsequent education, I thank WD and the Tour-ists!
@woopdedoo … and, of course, 1959 and 1970 were among the best years of the 20th century for Riesling…. Rheingau is the standard for Riesling. Though there are fans of the Mosel who might disagree, I think the consensus for several centuries has been that the very finest Rieslings, especially the late harvest wines, are from the Rheingau. Some of the finest wines in the best years live for centuries: I recall reading of wines from a mid-15th century vintage that were still in fine fettle, with fruit as well as bottle age, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Certainly, though it is little known today, in California the finest whites before Prohibition were Rieslings. Tastes have changed, but my great uncles, who were making wine in California before Prohibition, all claimed that first rate dry Riesling - Kabinett equivalent - was made in California that was comparable to all but the best German Rieslings of the day. Apparently, that was also the view of my great grandfather, who was one of the judges at the Paris exposition in 1900 and a noted international wine judge.
@rpm Wow - I didn’t know that Riesling was ever really a thing in CA. It makes sense that here in Michigan they could be really good since the climate would seem more favorable. Truth be told, my only real wine snobbery is for Riesling and I would rather not drink it at all than drink less than stellar versions - and stellar to me is what tastes exactly like a Rheingau. I am way more open to variations on most any other grape. And even though I really prefer a Dry Creek Vineyards SB for its flinty-ness - I can still enjoy a NZ-style SB for its own particular qualities. Anyway, always good to get a little more education from the master!
Lab rat report! Sorry for the delay – these things always seem to get sent just before Shabbat for us!
We got the wine Friday afternoon, and put it in the fridge to cool. Have never had Michigan wine before! Dinner was a lovely roast chicken with roasted potatoes, “French style” carrots and peas, and several sauces (red wine, mushroom, and a tapenade), all from a local casual French place.
This wine was excellent with the dinner. Upon opening, it had crisp apple and stone fruit notes, with some green vibe. On the tongue, it felt lightly effervescence, with pronounced mineral notes. Definitely a bit drier than one might expect if used to sweeter Rieslings.
We drank most of the bottle during dinner because it was such a good match. (That’s unusual, because I usually can’t drink more than about half a glass, for health reasons.) Came of the whole thing thinking, “Wow, that was just lovely, and now I know something about Michigan wines!”
And this would be an entirely 100 percent positive review except for two smallish footnotes.
When tidying up after dinner, I went to finish the last of a glass that had warmed to near room temp, and found that swallow very unpleasant. Had my sweetie taste it, and he agreed, the wine at room temp was no where near as good. So, we popped the last of the bottle in to the fridge.
And then just now I went to get something and saw it and thought “I know, I’ll have that!” and then realized I needed to write this up! But, having poured a big glass, I find that now that it’s been exposed to air and had some space to breathe, I don’t enjoy it as much. The mineral/veg notes are stronger, and it’s less to my liking. Almost a bitter finish.
So, yes, enjoyed it the first go around. If I had it again, I’d finish the whole bottle immediately, and not try to save it for the next day.
I received it, and love it. Very enjoyable. Not a mind blowing value at $12.50, but well worth the price. I found the rattage of @TrinSF to be right on, especially the part about it not being as good the next day.
2019 St. Julian Braganini Reserve Mountain Road Riesling, Lake Michigan Shore
Double Gold Award at the Tasters Guild Competition
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$237.48/Case at St. Julian Winery for 12x 2019 St. Julian Braganini Reserve Mountain Road Riesling, Lake Michigan Shore
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Feb 7 - Friday, Feb 11
2019 St. Julian Winery Michigan Riesling
6 bottles for $74.99 $12.50/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $129.99 $10.83/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Hello Hello, Mates!
Today I’m lucky enough to have the opportunity to taste this Lake Michigan Shore Riesling on behalf of the community! Alas, this is somewhat rushed, as the wine just arrived this afternoon, and I didn’t have a chance to open it until just a few hours ago.
So I’ve read a little tiny bit about Michigan wine, but have not yet tasted one myself, so this is a first for me. And I enjoy both sweet and dry Rieslings, so I was excited when I opened the box!
The first glass shows a light straw hue, and a sniff gives me a bright, clean aroma, and… I’m gonna call them vegetal notes. On first open, there’s hint of a sour note, which I almost always get when opening a young wine, especially screwcapped, and not giving it time to breathe. That blows off pretty quickly.
This tastes dry to me, with some light white fruit in the flavor. The fruit comes out much more on the third or so glass; as it opens up it gets richer and more forward. This could also be it warming up. The acidity is sharp and gives this a good bite on the tongue, which complements the vegetal notes in the aroma pretty well, I think. There’s a hint of the vegetal in the mouth, but for me this is primarily an aromatic component.
I don’t have a ton of Riesling, but I do enjoy them. And now that I read the back label, I think I do notice a little more sweetness than the dry Riesling I’ll occasionally pick up. It’s been too long to really compare, but I would like to taste this alongside Hugel’s Classic Riesling… this is definitely drier, though.
I hope this helps you decide!
Stationed in Germany for 18 months in the early 70’s, Riesling was a frequent staple! Our supply came from local farmers that stored their bottles in their barns under piles of straw. We’d fill our Bota bags & hike up into the mountains to spend the day! My experience with St Julian over the years includes Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Catherman’s Port, & Solera Cream Sherry. I remember their wines as being nice at the offer price point, with their port and cream sherry being very nice. I no longer drink a lot of Reisling because of the sometimes petrol taste. Although I’ve moved mainly to dry reds, it’s great to see St Julian back! Hope there are more Rat inputs on this offer!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations).
2019 St. Julian Winery Michigan Riesling - $20 = 13.33%
it is spelled Riesling. Also pronounced Reesling. Not always, but most always, in German IE is EE - EI - is eye.
@woopdedoo Augh. Apparently I don’t drink enough of it to remember how to spell the grape correctly.
Thanks for the reminder… too bad I cannot edit my post now.
@woopdedoo @worbx Indeed it is “Rees-ling” and if you can do it (I can’t), “Rrrrees-ling” with the rolled-R that my Swiss mother can do but I could never do unless it sounds forced and pretty awful.
However at one point I said if I got a new cat I would probably want to name it Riesling because it’s such a fun name to try to say (especially with the “R” thing). If I had a herd of cats they would be Gewurtztraminer and Mourvedre and maybe Carignane. (BTW @woopdedoo can you help us pronounce Mourvedre? I try to do the French thing like it’s supposed to be but it never sounds natural.).
@woopdedoo @worbx I think I got all iei things sorted out for you …
@worbx Not to worry - the listing itself is mis-spelled. A teachable moment!
@woopdedoo Haha, well, looks like somebody came through to clean it all up!
… except for the URL, of course.
@rjquillin Thank you!
@rjquillin @worbx Impressive - now let’s see about that URL!
@pmarin @worbx Reminds me of our local public radio host (shout-out to Melissa Ingells - now at Wisconsin Public Radio), who could pronounce every composer and conductor and musician perfectly - quite amazing and wonderful!
@woopdedoo @worbx Correcting that url, well, don’t count on that ever happening.
Nice to see they use the IRF sweetness scale on the back! I wish all Riesling bottlings and sales listings had that information on it.
@klezman It’s strange I never see that on West Coast wines. And I’m OK with that because usually I buy from producers I know or read reviews and if possible dig up %RS or g/L stats. Mostly I know what style producers and regions tend to do.
I was surprised when spending time further Eastern-US where Aldi is popular for “bargain” wines, and nearly everything has that scale on it. I thought it was an Aldi thing. (We don’t have Aldi in the West – just Grocery Outlet). TJs is now pretty-much everywhere.
Anyway the sweetness scale is I think useful especially if trying totally unknown (possibly bargain) things. Unfortunately in recent years my experience with anything sold at those Eastern stores is pretty much not my thing. When I have tried them I regretted it. I don’t think the cheap bargain wine market is as promising as it used to be.
I didn’t know this was some sort of general-purpose scale outside of Aldi and some grocery chains. Is it more common than I assumed? Anyway the sweetness of this matches the RS % shown – not super-sweet but certainly not “dry.” It might be a “sweet spot” (pun intended) for me as a way to try this. I do like the “mineral” aspects of Riesling and have never tried anything from this region.
@pmarin Scott puts it on his Riesling, I think. And his Old -> New World scale on his other wines I thought he said was based on it. I’ve also seen it on Finger Lakes wines and some from Ontario. I’ve seen it on proper good quality German wines, too, although definitely those made for retail more than for the cognoscenti. Check out the labels from Red Newt to see the best version - pH, TA, RS, and the IRF Scale.
But yeah, for any Riesling that I don’t know well, it’s super helpful to know what I’m buying and/or opening any given evening.
@klezman @pmarin Brooks uses it on their Rieslings as well.
My first real wine experience was Rieslings in Germany when I was 17 (a long while ago). I was fortunate to have been drinking Rheingau (note the ei and eye pronunciation) Rieslings which were imprinted on me as the “standard”. Little did I know at the time, I was drinking some of the best Rieslings in the world - at the time a bottle was cheaper than bottled water. Anyway, it is a blathering way of saying that I now rate every Riesling against a Rheingau (German wines are labelled by specific regions - then by harvest time/RS, approximately) For many years I had no other wine “knowledge”. And for the subsequent education, I thank WD and the Tour-ists!
@woopdedoo
Says the instigator-in-chief!
@woopdedoo … and, of course, 1959 and 1970 were among the best years of the 20th century for Riesling…. Rheingau is the standard for Riesling. Though there are fans of the Mosel who might disagree, I think the consensus for several centuries has been that the very finest Rieslings, especially the late harvest wines, are from the Rheingau. Some of the finest wines in the best years live for centuries: I recall reading of wines from a mid-15th century vintage that were still in fine fettle, with fruit as well as bottle age, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Certainly, though it is little known today, in California the finest whites before Prohibition were Rieslings. Tastes have changed, but my great uncles, who were making wine in California before Prohibition, all claimed that first rate dry Riesling - Kabinett equivalent - was made in California that was comparable to all but the best German Rieslings of the day. Apparently, that was also the view of my great grandfather, who was one of the judges at the Paris exposition in 1900 and a noted international wine judge.
@rpm Wow - I didn’t know that Riesling was ever really a thing in CA. It makes sense that here in Michigan they could be really good since the climate would seem more favorable. Truth be told, my only real wine snobbery is for Riesling and I would rather not drink it at all than drink less than stellar versions - and stellar to me is what tastes exactly like a Rheingau. I am way more open to variations on most any other grape. And even though I really prefer a Dry Creek Vineyards SB for its flinty-ness - I can still enjoy a NZ-style SB for its own particular qualities. Anyway, always good to get a little more education from the master!
@rpm @woopdedoo Smith-Madrone still makes a great Napa Riesling.
@klezman @rpm Thanks - I will look for it locally.
FWIW, the St. Julian port and cream sherry (bought here on Casemates) were excellent!
Lab rat report! Sorry for the delay – these things always seem to get sent just before Shabbat for us!
We got the wine Friday afternoon, and put it in the fridge to cool. Have never had Michigan wine before! Dinner was a lovely roast chicken with roasted potatoes, “French style” carrots and peas, and several sauces (red wine, mushroom, and a tapenade), all from a local casual French place.
This wine was excellent with the dinner. Upon opening, it had crisp apple and stone fruit notes, with some green vibe. On the tongue, it felt lightly effervescence, with pronounced mineral notes. Definitely a bit drier than one might expect if used to sweeter Rieslings.
We drank most of the bottle during dinner because it was such a good match. (That’s unusual, because I usually can’t drink more than about half a glass, for health reasons.) Came of the whole thing thinking, “Wow, that was just lovely, and now I know something about Michigan wines!”
And this would be an entirely 100 percent positive review except for two smallish footnotes.
When tidying up after dinner, I went to finish the last of a glass that had warmed to near room temp, and found that swallow very unpleasant. Had my sweetie taste it, and he agreed, the wine at room temp was no where near as good. So, we popped the last of the bottle in to the fridge.
And then just now I went to get something and saw it and thought “I know, I’ll have that!” and then realized I needed to write this up! But, having poured a big glass, I find that now that it’s been exposed to air and had some space to breathe, I don’t enjoy it as much. The mineral/veg notes are stronger, and it’s less to my liking. Almost a bitter finish.
So, yes, enjoyed it the first go around. If I had it again, I’d finish the whole bottle immediately, and not try to save it for the next day.
Nice to see Michigan winery on the boards
I received it, and love it. Very enjoyable. Not a mind blowing value at $12.50, but well worth the price. I found the rattage of @TrinSF to be right on, especially the part about it not being as good the next day.