2023 Intent Wines, Dry Riesling, Coral Vineyard, Sonoma Coast.
Coming from a tiny vineyard north of Petaluma, the Intent Wines Dry Riesling, which comes in at a true “Trocken” level of dryness, is bright and vibrantly fresh in the glass with loads of steely mineral intensity, tight layers of green apple, Keffir lime, tart peach and subtle mango fruits, along with fine floral aromatics, zingy herbs, bitter almond, lemongrass and a salty stoniness. The pure Intent light framed Riesling reflects the vintage and opens nicely, bursting with acidity, but adds a good rounded textural mouth feel and lingers on the finish, making this a brilliant offering from Patrick Callagy, who made this using indigenous yeasts and aged it 5 months on the lees, mainly relying on neutral used barrels and stainless tank to promote transparency. Coral Vineyard sits on a bench in the breezy cool Petaluma Gap AVA of the Sonoma Coast with sandy clay loams and paralithic rock soils. This is an exciting wine and will be fabulous over the next 3 to 5 years and looks to be a stylish pairing with poultry, pork dishes and sea foods.
Winemaker Patrick Callagy, a California Culinary Academy trained chef, as I have mentioned in my prior reviews, launched his personal project Intent Wines label with a solid set of initial offerings including a Pinot Gris, a Syrah and a lovely Home Block Pommard Clone Pinot Noir, along with this new Riesling. Patrick met winemaker Eric Sussman in 2002, post graduation, when Sussman started his now famous Radio Coteau winery, helping out with that harvest and after a few years of extremely long hours, Callagy’s curiosity/persistence paid off when he became Radio Coteau’s first employee, gaining loads of wine growing and winemaking experience. Fast forward a few years, Patrick started the Intent brand with the 2017 vintage, bravely starting his own label in 2020, considering the difficulty of getting stuff done in the middle of the COVID pandemic, which Callagy says, it’s been challenge, but he’s made it through and has continued to produce very elegant wines. The focus here is to source from, organically grown, or as Patrick explains, correctly farmed sites, which is where his Intent name comes from and I highly recommend getting on the mailing list here.
($39 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive