2018 Ara Riesling
This dry Riesling has an elegantly floral nose with notes of melon, tropical and stone fruits on the palate.
Ara is the name of a constellation and is one of the very first riesling labels Jimi Brooks created after founding Brooks in 1998. Jimi’s passion and interests of mythology and astrology often were shown through the creation of his first wines.
Only 325 cases produced!
What our team says
This dry Riesling has thirst-quenching acidity with generous notes of tropical and citrus fruits with a saline finish.
Steamed mussels with pernod, fennel, cherry tomatoes, garlic, butter and a splash of this wine would be AMAZING!
One of my favorite Riesling vintages to date! This vintage is still young, but already showing delicious complexities of flavors and aromatics. I particularly love the intensity of acidity and salinity in this vintage of Ara. It’s destined for cellaring and enjoyment with Pacific Coast oysters!
Our panelists found this wine scintillating. Clean, tangy, tingly and “it squeaks” were just a few of the excited descriptors they used, but none of them capture the depth of flavor, the phenolic grip, the pop and tingle of the acidity or its penetrating line. It’s got the power to age, though the lemon-peel and green-apple flavors would work well now with tuna crudo. (325 cases) —P.J.C.
Vintage Notes
A wet and cool April delayed bud break, but by bloom, we were quickly caught up to average tracking for the season. Summer was steadily warm but without heat spikes or temperature extremes experienced in 2016 and 2017. By mid-September, the vines became weary from much sun and not much water and began to shut down causing ripening to stall. A brief rain event and cool down gave the vines the
respite and harvest the jumpstart it needed. We picked Pinot in a concentrated two-week window running until October 10. The Riesling, however, enjoyed an extended spell of sunny but cool autumnal weather that was perfectly ideal for beautiful ripening lasting through October 22. The resulting wines from the season are vibrant, fresh, and full of concentrated flavor. A hallmark vintage!
Varietals
Riesling
AVA
- Type
- White
- Varietal
- Riesling
- Region
- Oregon
- Appellation
- Willamette Valley
- Vintage
- 2018
- Vineyards
- Brooks Estate, Yamhill
Vinification
- Filtration
- Cross-Flow
- Case production
- 325
- Crush format
- Straight to press
- Bottling date
- 2019-04-29
- Vessel
- Stainless
By the numbers
- Alcohol percentage
- 14
- Residual sugar
- 14.5 g/L
- Ph
- 3.01
- Acid
- 8.9 g/L