Sson Winery 2016 Riesling, Wirz Vineyard

"Sson" winery is the personal project for winemaker James Wasson (see what he did there?), previously with the renowned “Rein” brand. He started this brand to follow his own path, free of any other owner's dictates, so he could "breath texture and complexity into my wines at every step of the production process".

The Wirz vineyard is an icon among California producers of Riesling, the unquestioned leader of the pack of Riesling vineyards. With vines that were over 50 years old at the time of this vintage, therefore producing less fruit, but with greater intensity of flavors. In addition, the vines are growing on their own roots, whereas the safer, more common approach, in our post-phylloxera era, is to graft the desired varietal onto one of several louse-resistant root stocks. These 'own-rooted' vines benefit from a nutritional pipeline that was custom designed, so to speak, for the nourishment of these Riesling grapes.

Riesling is one of the world's most famous age-worthy white wines, with the best examples holding up for multiple decades. Because this wine is approaching its middle age, it shows delicious and enticing secondary and tertiary notes that can only be attained when an age-worthy wine spends ten years in the bottle. Sometimes described as "Petrol" notes, these wines tend to be exceptionally food friendly, but so interesting on their own that they often play a solo act.

This is an exceptional wine not to be missed.