WHITE WINE
Five H 2008 White Riesling
The second vintage of Five H White Riesling is not too sweet and not too tart. Balance is the operative word for all Five H wines and this offering is no exception. The grapes for this wine were grown on a different Columbia Valley vineyard than our 2006 vintage. The 2008 location, near the Columbia River, offers a touch more “minerality” in the finished wine. As always, sussreserve adds the ultimate touch to the finished wine and brings the balance of sweetness and acidity that is predictable for our Five H White Riesling.
• White Riesling Fact Sheet
• Pairing Suggestion
RED WINE
Five H 2006 Heritage
With 85 percent merlot and 15 percent primitivo, Five H Heritage is a special blend that is soft and elegant in a “big wine” sort of way. The Wahluke Wine Company in Mattawa, WA produced these two varietals that make up the Heritage blend. The Five H team then blended this wine to show a flavor profile that is distinct and different. The primitivo adds zip to the juicy merlot flavors, offering full fruit mid pallet. This Heritage red blend may change from vintage to vintage, but be assured that the wine will always be a complement Five H wine style.
Five H 2007 Walla Walla Syrah
Keeping with the tradition and style of Five H wines, we are confident that our first syrah from Five H will not disappoint. Washington State’s Walla Walla Valley is world renown for producing distinctive wines that reflect the terroir of this growing region. Les Collines Vineyards, our sole supplier of 2007 syrah grapes, has an exceptional reputation for producing not only syrah, but also cabernet sauvignon and merlot. The Hinman family's committment to producing vineyard designate syrah has been a learning experience from grapes to the finished, bottled wine.
ABOUT FIVE H WINES
Why “Five H White Riesling” and not “Five H Riesling”?
In the early days of the Oregon wine industry, there were concerns about honest labeling. During that period, riesling had many names, like Johannesburg riesling, Wach riesling and Rhine riesling. At the time, the Oregon wine industry and OLCC determined that the term white riesling was required.In the early 1990s, however, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) determined riesling and white riesling were synonymous. Given the Hinman family’s tradition and their personal history with the varietal, they decided on white riesling for Five H.
What is Sussreserve?
Süssreserve is unfermented grape juice back-blended into a fully-fermented dry wine – such is the case with Five H White Riesling. The process adds sweetness, balances the natural wine acids and enhances the fruit character of the finished wine. It is also a stylistic touch, which Doyle learned while studying winemaking at Germany’s famed Geishenheim Wine Institute many years ago.
The winemaker makes a determination to add Süssreserve after the wine is finished fermenting. This allows the winemaker control over the finished wine. White riesling is inherently acidic and tart when fermented to dryness. Süssreserve can balance the character to perfection and enhance the white riesling flavor.
The more common approach to developing sweetness in white riesling involves stopping the fermentation before the wine is totally dry. This leaves sweetness in the wine, but, in the opinion of the Hinman family, does not intensify the original flavor profiles for this noble grape like Süssreserve. It may be more difficult to produce finished white riesling wine in the Süssreserve style, but it is worth the extra effort.
