INSIDER'S PICK: 2018 ANTON BAUER RIESLING 'FEUERSBRUNN' $20.99

Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We are also doing both a white and a red option each week, with the white wine available for the discount on Thursday and Friday, while the red wine available on Friday and Saturday. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.

In a recent article for the Financial Times, noted wine writer Jancis Robinson proclaimed Riesling to be 'the greatest white wine grape in the world.' While it's certain not every palate will agree with that statement, it is DEFINITELY the most misunderstood. Many consumers still believe that Riesling=Sweet Wine, based all too often on the really bad mass market inexpensive versions that are so prevalent in chain stores across the country (if all you have is a fast food burger, you'll probably have a bad opinion of beef as well). The truth is that Riesling excels at making wines of all sugar levels, from full on sweet to off-dry, right on down to bone dry and steely. Often they can hide their dryness behind aromatics and ripe fruit, a 'sense of sweetness', but examples like this one from Austria will help get you behind the Riesling excitement if you aren't already. From a single site (used to be called just 'Berg' for many vintages) with lots of loose stones in the soil, this has the classic nose of cool white fruits, wet stones, and a hit of the 'petrol' vapors at first that's common in drier Rieslings from almost every part of the world. Don't worry if you're adverse to that, as it does blow off fairly quickly with a bit of air or a splash in a decanter. The fruit on the palate is full of minerality and energy, fresh and quenching with no sugary components or austerity, comfortably away from those extremes. So food friendly with white meat dishes, sauteed vegetables, dishes with some spice to them. Hmmm, perhaps Jancis is right after all.....

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