AlexEli Oregon Mixed White (6)

AlexEli Willamette Valley Gewürztraminer and Riesling 6-Pack
$69.99 $̶9̶4̶.̶0̶0̶ 26% off List Price
3 2009 AlexEli Gewürztraminer, Willamette Valley Oregon
1 2008 AlexEli Riesling
1 2011 AlexEli Riesling
1 2010 AlexEli Riesling
CT links above

Winery website

Previous offers:
9/24/12 (Plus)
1/13/12

Reisling is my favorite wine! Why did this have to come on sale the day I can’t afford to buy it? :frowning:

An earlier '10 PN drank well, but no great notes from my other AlexEli purchases. This would give me a four year vertical of the Riesling and complement my '08 Gewurtz.
An even better price point than the earlier woot.

Hoping we may have some additional PN’s, but likely in anyway.

My wife and father both enjoy both of these varietals quite a bit. I see their listed as off dry. For anyone who has had any of these wines how sweet are they?

Klezman and I got this gewürztraminer in a tasty care package a few weeks ago. Cracked it open tonight while cooking our chicken piccata.

I find it to be a nice, easy-to-drink off-dry kind of wine (coming from a girl whose favorite is riesling, so this should not surprise). It’s got about 1.5% RS, which makes it most definitely my style. Crisp with a little sugar to make it go down all too easily.

Don’t expect too much complexity out of this wine, though. I liked it best straight after opening as it loses its nose with a bit of air and warmth. It is an anti-bomb wine: not too much of any one thing, it’s just a solid crispness with hints of apple and tropical fruit, hints of citrus, and that bit of RS. Check out Klez’s review for a more nuanced critique of this guy, but if you’re looking for a good summer white to drink on the patio, this definitely deserves consideration.

I met a friend outside Harvest Moon Winery a few weeks ago, and he gave me a bottle of 2009 AlexEli Gewurtzraminer to try. Bottle says Willamette Valley, 13% abv. No other information about the wine on the bottle.

Decided to open it tonight after struggling with upgrading Windows 8 to Windows 7 on a work computer - and an hour+ after finishing off the remnants of a Twisted Oak 2007 PS for happy hour. My teeth were no longer stained purple for this tasting.

Before I go into the wine, you may want to know where I’m coming from - Ontario. I tasted and enjoyed many a Gewurtztraminer there before making the move to California, but I’ve never found a bottle that stands up to those taste memories - spice, lychee, bone dry, intense, floral. This one is among the closer attempts.

First impressions, right out of the fridge, having just ceremoniously unscrewed the cap. The colour is pale but clearly straw yellow. Nose initially smells slightly Riesling-ish, but with a little something else that clearly distinguishes it. Eventually I decide I need to decide on what to call it, so I settle on cantaloupe and lychee. Not much spice. My first sip I was slightly saddened that the bracing acidity I so love in Alsatian whites was not there, even if the acid was perfectly adequate. There’s definitely a hint of something sweet, but it’s so close to perceptible that I’m not sure whether it’s RS or the tropical fruit centre of the wine. There’s also the slightest hint of effervescence - not enough to truly be bubbly but enough to make it interesting. The finish was relatively long and reminiscent of straw.

Second glass after being in the fridge for a while again. I found the aromas and palate both to be more lemony and mineraly. The perception of acidity has picked up to the point where the 1.5% RS (I looked it up) fooled me into thinking it was actually the lychee overtones. Quite surprising for something with this much sugar, actually.

As the night goes on, I’ve still got some in front of me. At this point (3 hours or so post-opening, in the fridge the whole time) the nose has shut down almost completely and the flavours have toned down as well. I’m perceiving more pineapple and less lychee but the sugar is also less obvious. If the nose hadn’t gone away I’m actually liking this more. It’s also picked up some of the spice character from which the grape gets its name.

So I’m not sure what to make of this one. Either it’s a pop and quickly serve sort of wine, which is quite enjoyable. Or it is one of those relatively rare whites that actually needs air to evolve.

I was actually expecting to see this tomorrow night, so I may go back and retaste for more notes.

I received a complimentary bottle of 2011 AlexEli Riesling from a man whose name was neither Alex nor Eli. “Try it, you might like it” said the mensch to the mashugana. “OK”, I answered.

Expressive fruit and floral nose with apples and pears alongside jasmine and honeysuckle. Green apple dominates the off-dry palate with fresh-picked pear and white peach. Lighter notes of lemon-lime zest, honeydew, slate and petrol round out the flavor profile with just the right amount of acidity to carry it through the medium finish. This reminded me somewhat of a Finger Lakes Riesling.

This is a very refreshing and quaffable wine. Glad I got the opportunity to taste this and SWMBO is also a fan. Her comments were “Really good. Fruity love it chilled would be fantastic in the summer”.

Hopefully Phil the winemaker will stop by, I have always enjoyed his participation in the past. Seems like a great guy who has passion for his wines and is very open and honest when discussing and answering questions about them.

Speaking just for the '11 Riesling; not sweet but closer to semi-sweet than off-dry. That semi-sweetness is offset somewhat by the green apple tartness of the flavor profile.

I had the chance to sample the 2008 and the 2010 Alexeli Riesling.
The first thing I noticed was the nose which I found funny and I am not used to it. It reminded me and others of the smell of an inflatable plastic beach ball or swim wings. I read that this is referred to as “petroleum”/“petrol” often.

Some researched links about this nose:
http://www.tree.com/food-dining/riesling-grapes-and-wines.aspx
http://www.wine-pages.com/guests/tom/riesling-petrol
http://www.wine-pages.com/guests/tom/riesling-petrol-2.htm

Now, I am not so used to it since I previously mostly had German Rieslings and while supposedly some people seek out this type of nose, I read that in Germany and among their winemakers it is usually considered a flaw. I do not know anybody over there who would consider this nose desirable.

from a previous discussion (referred to above) the direct link to the winemaker’s comment on petrol:
http://wine.woot.com/forums/viewpost.aspx?postid=5184730
so - aging and petrol nose seems to associate, I suppose.

When I tasted, both Rieslings were sandwiched between a lot (…a LOT…) of reds, so I will not be able to be very nuanced, both tasted similar and definitely not spoilt. No plastic flavor, don’t worry.
A bit too sweet to be just ‘off-dry’ for me and definitely they drank as quite decent Rieslings.
They were similar, as I would expect from different vintages of the same vineyard, with the 2008 definitely being more complex and generally better, maybe the 2010 also just needs some more time in the bottle.
For the 2009, the winemaker previously pointed out minerality, for the 2008 and 2010 I did notice this very much in retrospect.

Personally I prefer Rieslings either really sweet (Late Harvest, or even “Trockenbeerenauslese” with the distinct aroma you usually get then also) as a dessert wine or on the other side of the spectrum really dry. So personally it is not my ‘style’ I would drink often, but I still liked it.

That being said - I think at this price point, they are quite attractive for Riesling-lovers.

Was able to try the Gewurtzraminer after chilling for a bit (both me and the wine). It had a pale yellow color with a pleasant tropical fruity nose on opening. Tasted of grapefruit with a slight lingering sweetness. Although not my cup of tea (dry reds), this one is easy to drink and would probably make for a good summer relaxation wine.

Would love to buy but message at top of purchase screen says they can’t ship to Virginia :frowning:

Had to buy this one for the name :slight_smile:

Ok, spring is in the air, finally, in the Chicago area. It was in the mid 50’s today, a veritable heat wave, so I’m thinking some chicken on the grill and a white wine.

Up from the cellar comes an AlexEli 2011 Riesling. Screw top off and pour a small glass. Nose is pretty aromatic,says Riesling to me, no petrol here, at least not at this young age. Predominant flavor is definitely green apple.
So over the next few hours played with this wine with and without food.

Long and short, not overly complex, the green apple stayed in the forefront, with just a touch of pear/peach in the background. Don’t know the chemistry but good acid. The sweetness is barely perceptible, in fact for me the only way I really detected it was in the mouthfeel, there was a roundness midpalate that hinted at a touch of residual sugar. Really no sweetness at all on the moderate finish.

The wine didn’t change much over the evening. This is a pretty versatile wine. It’s put together in a way that I could certainly drink this on it’s own (I did) and it went well with the chicken. I would think it would pair with quite a few foods.

Hey y’all … just got back from southern oregon (selling some of our riesling bulk to another winery… and my 18 year old truck got busted up south of Eugene… so I missed the Woot deal … Thanks to everyone on here… Im glad to hear of so many variations and critiques of our wines. Im tied so close to the vineyard or holed up in the winery so much that the feed back I get from folks like you guys is very valuable ( no matter how snarky or casual) thanks again… enjoy the wines!~Phil