It was the Alfalfa Leafcutting bee in Australia that lead Ron Bitner to Riesling. The tenured grapegrower also had nearly ten years under his belt as the proprietor of Bitner Vineyards when he came to his winemaker and neighboring vintner Greg Koenig about making dry Riesling from the Caldwell, Idaho estate. When he was halfway around the world doing work as a bee entomologist, Bitner was introduced to the powerful austerity of cool climate, age-worthy, drier-style Rieslings from around the globe. Albeit completely unrelated to his work trip, Bitner brought home the taste for the style, asked Koenig to give it a go and the wine has been receiving national and regional accolades since the first vintage in 2005.
Not quite bone-dry but with no lack of bite, the 2012 Dry Riesling from Bitner Vineyards is in line with what the Idaho duo had in mind. Catch glimpses of lemon curd, green apple, orange blossom and honeydew aromas as they move to the side to make way for a palate stark in citrus and zest with tangy apple and mineral, finishing plenty dry at .5 percent residual sugar. An easy out is Thai food but try pairing this zippy Idahoan with a salty olive oil-based pizza or a Vietnamese vermicelli bowl.
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