Tasting Note Riesling has a place in The County. The nose here is a bit shy, but classic, with ripe green apple, gentle florals, lemon, spice and no apparent petrol. It is light bodied, with 11.5% alcohol, so the 13 grams of residual sugar bump up the textural richness. Yet the linear County acidity and minerality leads to a dry and crisp finish. You can just feel that sense of County delicacy when tasting it among B.C. and Niagara editions. I thought of the Mosel Valley in Germany. Due to younger vines, the length is very good, not quite up to most in this field but deserving our attention as an emerging riesling region.

Backgrounder Since its total remake during Covid, The Grange has emerged brilliantly under new management, and with new winemaker Jonas Newman and returning viticulturist Mike Peddlesden, who first planted the estate in 2001 and 2002, largely to chardonnay and pinot noir. Riesling in the Newfield Vineyard is a later addition, with younger vines showing less depth so far. But this is from the hot, dry almost drought-like 2025 season that created smaller berries and reduced yields to 1.2 tons per acre. The grapes were harvested and slowly pressed to maximize aromatic intensity. After a slow cold fermentation, the wine was matured in stainless steel barrels for six months.