This one is very light yellow and smells like garbage, and maybe a touch of melon. The flavor is so light as to be watery and just ever so slightly sweet and tart. Not much of a flavor to tell the truth. I have not had good luck with the Slovenian Avia wines in general, I think I may avoid the brand moving forward.

Type: White

Grape: Riesling

Origin: Argentina

Year: 2007

Producer: Fecovita

Price: $3.99

I have a couple of dueling $4 Rieslings here and this one is light yellow in color and smells of apple. The flavor is semi-sweet and has tart notes of Fuji apple. It isn’t a bad for a super cheap Riesling but it contains virtually nothing of what I love about Rieslings.

Nice straw color and honeyed apricot scent. The flavor doesn’t follow directly AT ALL. First thin and tart, then thin with notes of old citrus. It’s possible that this one is simply over the hill. A relatively dry, mass market Riesling that’s been sitting on the shelf for three years could be done for. My biggest issue with this wine is that the aroma promises a syrupy sweet dessert wine and the flavor delivers a dry, thin disappointment.

Robert Mondavi makes about every type of wine there is. I’ve been out to visit his estate in Napa and it’s very grand. Every wine lover in the U.S. should visit Napa Valley, it’s right here in the U.S. and it’s the center of the wine world here. It’s also the U.S. capital of identity theft, so watch your wallet while you’re there. This Mondavi Riesling is a thin golden color and has an aroma that I could do without. It smells like some composting fruit peels. Luckily the flavor is better. It is relatively sweet and has a dominant apricot flavor that moves into a short finish with chemical off notes. Stick to Germany for great Riesling. That’s not entirely fair to California, but cheap German Riesling is less of a crap shoot in general.

Nice frosted bottle in the typical Riesling bottle shape, even though it’s from Massachusetts. That’s where the similarities to German Riesling ends. The aroma smells like Bud Light and apple, seriously. It’s very full bodied for a Riesling, more sweet and lacking the crispness I expect from Riesling. It’s really it’s own animal though, not comparable to other Rieslings. It tastes pretty good though, not terribly complex but pleasing enough.

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Nice little nose on this one, dark berries, a little chocolate, a little earthiness. The flavor though, is jarringly different and just kind of freakin’ weird. The more you drink it the more normal the flavor seems (like anything I suppose) but it’s definitely strange at first. It has a medium weight mouth feel but it’s tart and tannic, especially for mass market wine which is usually sweeter and not at all tannic. The weird part is that it’s full of off flavors like medicine and lemon juice that’s been sitting in the fridge too long. I don’t recommend it.

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Smells of apple and apricot. The flavor is dry, much more so than most Rieslings I have had. It’s very flavorful and smooth, with a distinct tangy taste on the finish. One of the things I like about Riesling is the sweetness, but I like this one anyway. It isn’t complex, but it is a cheap, tasty Riesling.

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Another of the fine bottles I acquired at Costco. Very pale yellow in color and it has a sugary aroma, like honey and ripe fruit. The flavor is slightly sweet as it hits your tongue but then turns more dry as you swirl it in your mouth. I can’t place the flavor but it’s not like other examples of Riesling that I’ve had, and I’ve had a few. The flavor is somewhere between “fruity drink” and “cough syrup” in flavor but not consistency obviously. It doesn’t taste bad but the world is chock full of better Rieslings.

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Straw-colored, with a honeyed-apricot nose. I haven’t met many Rieslings I haven’t liked and this one is no exception. The flavor is sweet, very mildly syrupy and ever so slightly fizzy. A nice little Riesling for just shy of ten bucks.

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This is what I would call a generic Riesling. It has a weird name and it’s cheap, not obviously German at all. It even has a standard clear glass bottle, which is strange if you know Rieslings. I haven’t had a Riesling in a while and it smells like heaven. I love that sweet, leafy aroma. Unsurprisingly, it isn’t the best example I’ve tasted. It’s sweet but a little harsh for a Riesling and the finish is very short. It’s worth it to me for the aroma alone but don’t make this the first Riesling you ever taste.

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