Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$20
• Must be widely available

Robert Mondavi was a winemaking legend and Napa Valley pioneer. Mondavi played an integral role in putting United States wine on the map worldwide. He founded his namesake winery in 1966, which was the first major winery in the Napa Valley of California after Prohibition. His goal was to produce wines that would stand up against the best wines in the world. Robert Mondavi Private Selection was founded in 1994 by Robert Mondavi to showcase California’s best Central Coast vineyards. Today, winemaker Rick Boyer produces eleven different wines under the Private Selection label including this Riesling.

“Our 2013 Riesling was produced exclusively from grapes grown in Monterey County in California’s Central Coast American Viticultural Area, a region renowned for its cool climate. An especially aromatic rendition of the noble Riesling varietal, it exudes warm, ripe peach, jasmine, fresh citrone, and Florabunda rose perfumes. Strong acidity keeps the wine crisp and refreshing. A slight sweetness makes it the perfect accompaniment to spicy Thai, Spanish, or Indian cuisine.” –Rick Boyer, Winemaker

2013 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Riesling (Central Coast, California): 100% Riesling. Pale, greenish straw yellow in color. Aromatic with peach and floral notes on the nose. More peach, dried apricot, and floral notes come through on the palate. Off-dry and light to medium-bodied with crisp acidity and a long, refreshing finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $11; Available elsewhere, $7 to 9

A Wine for Tonight: 2013 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Riesling was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Since we are always trying to come up with fun ideas for our challenging wine pairings, we decided that it was time to do a pairing with Peeps. Obviously, these confections are not the ideal dessert, but we had a great time selecting the wines and trying the pairings.

A general food and wine pairing guideline is “sweet with sweet”. In most cases, you want the wine to be at least as sweet as the food. When you sip a sweet wine with a sweet dessert, the sweetness level actually goes down and all of the flavors come together.

We decided to go with two wines that had some sweetness but were different so we selected one sparkling wine, the NV Michelle Extra Dry Sparkling Wine, and one still wine, the 2012 Ste. Chapelle Special Harvest Riesling. The unanimous choice as the best pairing with the Peeps was the Extra Dry Sparkling Wine. It exhibited a subtle sweetness and crisp acidity that complemented the sweetness of the Peeps and provided great balance in the pairing. The Riesling was a bit too sweet and syrupy and lacked the acidity needed to balance out the sweetness so the combination was overwhelming.

What would you have paired with the Peeps?  And, as always, we welcome your suggestions for future challenging wine pairings.

Bon Appétit!

NV Michelle Extra Dry Sparkling Wine (Columbia Valley, Washington): 63% Chardonnay, 19% Pinot Noir, and 18% Pinot Gris. Small, fast bead of bubbles. Pale to medium yellow in color. Aromatic with white peach, pear, nuts, and floral notes on both the nose and palate. Off-dry and light to medium-bodied with crisp acidity and a long finish. Residual Sugar: 2.18%
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $14; Available elsewhere, $9 to $17

2012 Ste. Chapelle Special Harvest Riesling (Snake River Valley, Idaho): Medium golden yellow. Nice nose with candied apple, honey, and apricot aromas and flavors. Sweet and light to medium-bodied with lively acidity and a long finish. Residual Sugar: 7.5%
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $12; Available elsewhere, $11 to $13

Challenging Wine Pairing: Peeps Marshmallow Confections was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.