Wine Review: Heinz Eifel Shine Dry Riesling 2017

May is Riesling Month on TheWineStalker.net!

In 1979 Heinz Eifel founded Römerhof (Roman Yard) in Trittenheim in the heart of the Mosel Valley. When his daughter, Anne Eifel-Spohr, received her oenology degree from Geisenheim University in 2000, Eifel set out to collaborate with her on top-quality wines that reflected tradition while simultaneously respecting the inspiration of the young winemaker. The family was so pleased with the quality and individual character of these wines, they decided to put their own name on the bottle, thus creating Heinz Eifel wines.

Shine is the first of two wines by Heinz Eifel that I'm reviewing for Riesling Month. It's 100% Riesling from Pfalz, Germany, and it's of the Kabinett classification. The 12% ABV means that this is going to be a drier one, so don't skip out if you're against sweetness.

JACKIE BROWN SOUNDTRACK

It's been a long-ass day and tonight I really wanted to drink some wine and really jam to just the best of the best music. I wanted to feel it in my soul and in my bones. So I picked an album that I knew had that reach and would make me dance and feel good while I typed away about the vino I was drinking. So I picked out one of the best soundtracks I know.

Yeah, I said soundtrack. And, also yeah, there's a lot of great soundtracks and I've talked about some of them on this blog before. But the Jackie Brown soundtrack? As much as I like the movie, the soundtrack is an album that stands on its own and one that I consider to be a piece of musical perfection. Motown, soul, psychedelic rock, rap, and even Johnny Cash. It's amazing and you can listen to it on the music selection playlist on my YouTube channel.

THESE ARE NOT GOOD!

I'm also drinking this wine to an incredible disappointment within an earful of delight. You all know my unending love of brie cheese, right? Well, I found a bag of "Ile de France" that contains five individual servings of brie in little cups that kinda look like coffee creamer cups. I was so excited it's embarrassing. Little servings of my favorite cheese that will eventually lead to my demise from heart disease and deliver me into an inevitable void of nothing? Sign me up! But the outer crust is gross and the middle is far too liquidy than it should be, and there's zero character in the flavor. It's better to get a wheel of the good stuff and cut it up into 8th's. Fucking bastards.

What were we talking about? Ah, yes! The wine that I have in my glass right now!

The color of that wine is a light straw yellow. I get a lot of melon and green apple up front on the nose, with side notes of lychee and lemon zest and slate. On the palate it's light and zippy and extra-lively and fun. There's flavors of lime, green apple, and kiwi. So it's all about the green fruit, but there is still a slatey minerality on the palate. It finishes tart with an endless finish of the mid-palate flavors and a moderate scrape of lime peel.

This is a dry Riesling that is still about the fruit, and praise Rao for that! I like sweet Riesling, I like dry Riesling, but I don't understand Riesling that doesn't offer the fruit and makes you feel like you're sucking on a stone. What's the point? Here I get a dry Riesling that still tastes like I'm drinking a Riesling, and it's a decent deal for the $10 you'll drop on it.

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $10

Rating: 3.5/5 = Satisfying / Recommended (what does that mean?)

The bottle used was supplied free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.