Batch or Bottle Variation

One of my favorite inexpensive Rieslings over the past few months has been the 2006 "Saint M," from a joint venture with Chateau Ste. Michelle in Washington, with Dr. Loosen in Germany. My local wine shop, Davidsons, carries the Saint M for $7.99, which I think is a great value. I've had a bottle of Saint M on hand the last couple of times that I've done wine tastings, so I've been able to compare it with a number of other German Rieslings. The Saint M has come out better than several other wines that are twice as expensive. I know, I should stop equating the cost of the wine with the "quality." I still expect that better wines would cost more, so I have higher expectations from more expensive wines, but am pleasantly surprised when I find a really enjoyable wine for less than $10. The Saint M has hit that spot for me. Its light and refreshing, with a subdued sweetness, balanced with a tartness and acidity that makes it interesting. There is no one aspect that seems overwhelming. Nice by itself, but also goes well with light foods...

In fact, one of our typical Friday night routines is a late dinner, after my daughter gets done with dance class, stopping by Panda Express on our way home for take-out. Their signature "Orange Chicken" or "Thai Chicken" goes great with a Riesling like the Saint M. Slightly spicy/tangy food like Oriental is balanced with the sweetness of the wine -- a great combination, at a great price!

Anyway, back to the topic... Last weekend I picked up a Saint M, which I intended to keep for a wine tasting with my neighbor Steve. We're going to compare some of the less expensive German Rieslings head to head, and wanted to include the Saint M. Well, I couldn't wait, so I opened it early, since we weren't able to meet up over the weekend. I was really disappointed with the Saint M! Instead of the nice balance that I expected, it was more tart than usual, and seemed to be lacking the sweetness... Looking at the back label, I noticed that the last two sets of the "A.P. Number" that indicate the batch and year the wine was bottled were different than the others that I've had... I think that all of the other bottles of Saint M 2006 that I've had ended with "01 07" but this bottle was an "08 07" so it was apparently a different batch. I am sure that this isn't all that unusual, but its the first time that I've experienced this firsthand...

I was out tonight, and stopped at Davidsons for another bottle of wine. I checked the bottles of Saint M on the shelf, and was happy to discover that they were again ending with "01 07." So happy, in fact, that I bought two, so that I could open one, and save one for the tasting/comparison with Steve this weekend...

While I would expect to be able to detect differences between vintages, I was surprised that there was this much difference between two batches from the same year...