This week I found myself unsure of what to try, so I am making it a week of suggestions. I am lucky to have gotten some great wine suggestions over the past couple of weeks since I started my “college and wine” blog.  And if people are sharing their suggestions with me, I am taking them. The first suggestion is from Tim at cheapwineratings.com. This site is great to take a look at. It also tries to give wine ratings on wines that are $20 and below, so it was great getting a suggestion from a guy who really knows what he is talking about and understands my budget.

He recommended a Riesling from Washington to change my previous bad experience with American Rieslings. Pacific Rim. This place knows Riesling. They specialize in it and 90% of the wines they make are Riesling. Here is an excerpt from their site that I need to share  because I don’t think I can sum it up any better:

Why are we obsessed with Riesling? Riesling simply is the most versatile, complex and food-friendly of all the noble grapes. If you enjoy discovering new wines and inspiring your palate, then Riesling is your ideal wine. Riesling’s crisp, vibrant characteristics are a fresh alternative to heavier, oak-laden white wines. No other varietal can be crafted to express so many different and wondrous characteristics — from bone dry with floral aromas to dessert sweet with spicy aromas. And Washington’s Columbia Valley — home of Pacific Rim — provides the ideal soils and climate for growing Riesling. There’s no end to Riesling’s versatility.

I love a site with passion! Pacific Rim has a few different Rieslings, all ranging from dry to very sweet and what I like about it is that they make it very clear to the buyer how sweet and dry the wine is. Most of the other Rieslings I found do not really specify how dry or sweet they are, but this has a scale and everything!

I got the sweet Riesling in the purple bottle since that is what I am finding myself leaning towards lately. I swirled it and smelled it and it has lots of citrus on the nose. It is made with pear, pineapple and peach and you can definitely get that.

Tasting it was a treat. It has a pretty low alcohol rating (9%) so it was not overpowering by any means. It was refreshing and citrusy. I think if a person really likes Moscato, this is a great wine to sample because it is sweet, light  and has the citrus in it like the Moscato.

I am very curious what the medium and dry versions of Pacific Rim are like, so I know I will be trying those soon as well. And for about $15, I think I can manage that.

Here are what others are saying about Pacific Rim:

 

Thanks Tim!