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LILAC HILL

LILAC HILL Wine Details
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Description: Fruity and smooth. Excellent before or after dinner. Blend of Muscat D'Ottonell & Johannisberg Riesling. Official wine of the Lilac Festival. CHEESE PAIRING SUGGESTION - Grafton Village Cheese Company (USA - Vermont) Four Star Cheddar or Point Raise Blue Cheese. Blue Cheese is a great match with any sweet wine. Received 88 Points BTI - 2004 - Highly Recommended and a BEST BUY rating

Varietal Definition
Johannisberg Riesling:
A white-wine variety widely grown along the Rhine river and tributaries - (e.g: Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Mosel, Nahe regions etc.) - in Germany and also in other temperate regions of Europe. It is also grown in N. America, where it can produce a flowery, fruity dry wine with high acid and low alcohol not unlike the german "Kabinett" version or a semi-dry style with some residual sugar similar to the german "Spatlese" version. If infected with appropriate amounts of "botrytis", it can make outstanding late-harvest wines - (e.g: comparable to the german "Auslese" series). The Finger Lakes region of New York state in the U.S. produces excellent versions in the Mosel style and the North-West coast of N. America seems to have the right conditions for creating the richer, earthier Rheinhessen taste, as do the cooler regions of California. Australia now produces excellent versions of the dry, crisp Alsation-style, as well as fruitier semi-sweet Mosel-type wines, as has New Zealand in recent years.
Muscat:
Muscat, thought to be one of the oldest grape varieties, is grown worldwide. It is vinified in a multitude of styles, from still to sparkling, and dry to sweet to fortified. Also called Moscato, Moscatel and Muskateller, it is a sweetly aromatic, fruity grape that has many genetic variations and colors. It probably originated in Greece but maybe the independent sultanate of Muscat in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula had something to do with it. Over 200 different varieties and derivatives to the Muscat family exist today. Muscat Canelli, Orange Muscat and Black Muscat are varieties most planted in California, which makes primarily still wine. More unusual is Muscat fermented to total dryness, which leaves greater alcohol levels and no residual sugar. Some Muscats are aged in oak to provide additional complexity.Today’s recommended Muscats represent many of these styles, so use the tasting notes and percent of residual sugar - listed if provided by the winery - to find a wine you’ll enjoy. The more sugar and the lower the alcohol, the sweeter the wine, though wines above 10 percent alcohol can also be somewhat sweet.
Riesling:
On the sweeter end of the spectrum, some of the best dessert wines should give thanks to the Riesling varietal. Riesling is known for its complementary nature of combining balanced acidity with sugar. Rieslings are made dry to sweet, but it is the sweet style Riesling that brought about its popularity in the United States. With the rise of spicy sauces, marinades and dips to flavor our meal, Riesling plays a part in taking off the edge of the heat. Riesling is known for a number of signature characteristics: floral, citrus and pear. Riesling has peaked in California with 11,000 acres planted. Today, Monterey County’s cool-climate areas and its long growing season produce good amounts of character for the Riesling grape. Outside of


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