2012 Charles Smith Wines Riesling Kung Fu Girl

Kicking off the whites and talking about value, the 2012 Riesling Kung Fu Girl has to be one of the best values in white wine coming out of Washington State; when you see the total production numbers, it’s straight up unbelievable to have a wine of this quality, price and availability. Offering up a gorgeously pure, fresh bouquet of lychee nut, mint, citrus and clean minerality, this beautifully focused Riesling flows onto the palate with a balanced, full mid-palate, only a touch of sweetness and integrated, yet lip smacking acidity that shines on the finish. There’s real Riesling character here (and after tasting loads of Washington State Riesling, trust me, this is not a given) and this beauty should be purchased by the case. Enjoy bottles over the coming year. Drink now-2014. In the top tier of producers in Washington State, wild man Charles Smith fashions singular, exotic wines that never lack for richness or texture. While his wines can push the limits in some vintages and be slightly controversial, there’s nothing controversial or over the top with these 2010s and 2011s and they have beautiful purity of fruit, clean, integrated acid profiles and solid underlying structure. In almost all cases, given the quality, they represent incredible values. While this was a slight marathon tasting, when the wines are this good, it’s always easy to keep your motivation. Focusing on low-yields in the vineyards, the winemaking here is straight-forward with almost all of the wines seeing some whole cluster fermentation, time on lees and aging primarily in neutral French oak. www.kvintners.com