Clean Slate Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Qba Riesling 2005

A German Riesling, specifically a Piesporter Goldtropchen was the first wine that I actually liked. That was 25 years ago. Fast forward to today and it's rare that I partake of the Mosel or the Rhine. The best German wines have gotten out of sight expensive and there are plenty of uninteresting ones to avoid. But this one is aptly named; a good place to start or start over.

Clean Slate is a partnership effort of Seattle-based Click Wine Group and Moselland of Bernkastel-Kues Germany. It is 100% Riesling and technically classified as Qualitätswein/QbA (pronounced kval-ee-TAYTS-vine), German for “quality wine". A QbA must come from one of the 13 designated wine areas in Germany, but it is the base level of estate quality and chaptalization (adding sugar before fermentation) is allowed when grapes do not get ripe enough on their own. QbA is the level below Qualitätswein mit Prädikat or QmP, which is further categorized with predicated levels including Kabinett, Spätlese, and so on.

Peter Click (Click Wine Group founder) has taken the typical confusing German wine label and simplified it considerably with this offering. Yet with the help of Winemaker Mathias Krämer, they deliver some real quality in the bottle. Clean Slate even took "Double Gold" Best Riesling at the 2006 San Francisco International Wine Competition.

Excellent value ($11). Closure: Screw cap. Alcohol content: 10.5%.

Style: Light, bright fruit, no oak, off-dry, minerally.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Pale straw with a greenish tint. Aromas: Apricot, lemon drop and slate/mineral. Light on the tongue, there is a slight sweetness balanced by essential acidity, and the stone fruit and honey flavors are downright pretty in the juicy clean finish.

Comment: A good wine to sip earlier in the day than most.