Wine at Restaurants

I've had a glass of Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling with dinners at restaurants on a couple of occasions. Now that I have developed more of an interest in wines, I find it somewhat annoying that the wine list at most mid-priced restaurants provide so little information about the choices.

At Mimi's Cafe tonight, they only listed the producer and varietal... So I asked to see the bottle! It turns out that the Riesling they offered is the 2006 Columbia Valley Riesling from Chateau Ste. Michelle. According to their website, it was rated 86 points by Wine Spectator. Davidson's has it priced at $7.99, the same as the Saint M that I like. It was $5.95 for the glass, which seems about average for restaurants...

I thought that the Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Riesling was a very nice wine, although perhaps not as interesting as the Saint M... It had a light fruit aroma, and a light gold color. It had a subdued mineral component, with subtle fruit component, hints of pear, apple and melon. There was a slight sweetness, offset by a mild acidity... Overall, not quite as intense as most of the German Rieslings that I had tried. Would I get it again? Certainly! The Chateau Ste. Michelle seems to be frequently offered at restaurants. It was definitely good enough to get again. At Mimi's Cafe tonight, I had their Diablo center cut pork chops, which paired with the Riesling very nicely.

I've also had a Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling at the Elephant Bar, with their MisoYaki Grilled Salmon. I'm guessing that it was also the Columbia Valley...

The last time we were at Applebee's, they had just revised their menu and wine list. This seems to happen about every six weeks, or about every time that we go there... They no longer offered a Riesling, so I settled for the Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio. I wasn't terribly impressed with it... It seemed lacking in any discernible flavor, like most of the Chardonnay that I've had.

In December I was at C.B. & Potts with some co-workers, and tried the Black Swan Riesling from Australia. I think that Davidson's sells the Black Swan Riesling for $5.99, which is probably about what it cost for the one glass that I had at the restaurant! It also seemed pretty flat... I wouldn't have guessed it to be a Riesling if I didn't know that was what it was...

I haven't posted reviews of any of these on Vine Catcher since i had so little detail about what they were. Perhaps I'll post something on the Chateau Ste. Michelle, since I know what it was...