I can’t say this wine was a huge letdown, because I only paid 5 dollars for it.  And I usually try to note what each wine I taste does well.  But this wine is definitely a pass.

Region: Germany

Price: $5.99 at World Market

Sight: Pale yellow, some bubbles clinging to the sides

Smell: Peaches and flowers, overshadowed by something vaguely stinky 

Taste: White grapefruit, honeydew melon, a little bit fritzy

Overall: This wine has bubbles clinging all over the glass and tastes like it has traces of carbonation.  The “vaguely stinky” smell I detected at first sniff, now that I’ve tasted it, is what I now recognize as the somewhat bitter, somewhat stale aroma of unflavored seltzer water.  Whether or not this is a fermentation error, whatever is going on in there is definitely cramping the flavor.  This Riesling is slightly more tart than sweet, but there is just enough sweetness to dull the tartness from being crisp.  The sweet melon and the sour grapefruit flavors with their powers combined create a new flavor that I like to call “disappointment.”  They unite too passively and lack dynamic.  There is nothing exciting about this wine—even the finish is short and one-dimensional (grapefruit).  I don’t think I’d buy this again, even at its price point.  It’s cheap, but it’s not like you’re winning anything by saving the few extra bucks, because the wine is just mediocre, and even with the “bonus bubbles” it’s flat, flat, flat.  As far as food pairings go, if you’re even interested, I could see this being an inoffensive match for Chinese takeout—I’m thinking shrimp fried rice and spring rolls.  But there are way better Rieslings out there.