The December 2010/January 2011 issue of Consumer magazine, No.509, reports on a tasting of 60 white wines under $25.00. Reporter Libby Manley said they “found a good balance between quality in our tasting” and that “our panel was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality of all the wines tasted”. Tasting Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Chardonnay wines, it was the Riesling variety that impressed. Although no wines were awarded 5 stars, 16 were awarded 4 stars, of which six were Riesling.
The article discusses the use of the International Riesling Foundation’s sweetness scale as an excellent innovation for consumers to know what style of wine they are tasting, whether dry, medium dry, medium sweet or sweet.
Consumer’s panel led by Larry McKenna of Escarpment Vineyard had Gary Bowering, Sue Davies, Huw Kinch and Diane Langman find the following wines worthy of a 4 star, or silver medal rating: