wine review: Foreign Affair Winery Sussreserve Riesling 2023

Ottawa, ON

August 2024

Matt’s review:

Like most wines from Foreign Affair Winery in Niagara’s Vineland Station, their Sussreserve Riesling also benefits from some appassimento winemaking, whereby some of the Riesling grapes were naturally dried after harvest to concentrate flavours and add additional textural complexity to the finished wine. For the Sussreserve, the dried grapes were not fermented but rather added to the base wine after it finished fermentation, effectively boosting the fresh and richly concentrated Riesling characteristics. The result is an off-dry wine with great freshness and a silky smooth texture. The nose shows delicious sweet orchard and stone fruit, wildflower honey, and a hint of petrol. The palate repeats with ripe stone fruit and beeswax persisting on the long clean finish. This Sussreserve Riesling makes for a perfect pairing with spicy cuisine with its off-dry yet super refreshing style. Enjoy over the next few years served chilled with your favourite take-out dishes or enjoy this autumn with a butternut squash and brie soup with crispy pancetta. Tasted August 2024. 90 points. Matt Steeves – http://www.quercusvino.ca

Available winery-direct $24.95