2006

White Riesling - Late Harvest

Hogue Cellars

Washington State

Columbia Valley

Price: $10.99

Rating: 3 – A Toss Up

Here is a good reason why you need to know something about the label of the wine you buy.  There are often clues to what the wine is intended for.  In this case the key wording on the label is “…Late Harvest…”  Without getting into too much detail about the chemistry of how and why, late harvest means the grape stays on the vine later into the season and yields a higher level of sugar, thus this is a very sweet dessert wine.

Don’t try to drink this with food or even as a cocktail before dinner.  Rather serve this with chocolate or something sweet after the meal is complete and the evening is winding to an end. 

Hogue Cellars is one of our favorite wineries for consistently good wines at inexpensive prices and this is no exception.  It is very sweet, almost has a syrupy consistency, but as an after dinner nightcap, it works just fine.  But beware: You really need to like very sweet wines to enjoy this.  Since many dessert wines are very expensive, this price is a good one, so for that reason, we give this wine a 3: A toss up, it’s entirely up to you.