A stunner year over year, this single-vineyard Riesling delves into earthy aromas of fennel pollen and sunbaked field flowers, with a solid core of yellow apple, and white peach. It's rounded and full in feel, filling out by broad pome- and stone-fruit flavors underscored by white tea and blossoms. A gentle honeycomb-wax note lends delightful grip to the dry finish.

The 2020 Riesling Magdalena Vineyard comes in with seven grams of residual sugar and 12.4% alcohol. A little lighter and brighter, this doesn't have the concentrated mouthfeel of, say, the Riesling Reserve in this report, but it is more transparent, more expressive and just seems sunnier. I could make an argument that this is the best of the group, at least today. That conclusion does require that you appreciate elegance more than concentration, but this shows beautifully. The upper-level submissions in this report all perform well, are pretty close qualitatively and may flip places as they age, but for the moment, this has some pretty good bragging points. Then, I retasted the Riesling Reserve and the HJW and started arguing with myself again. Perhaps in the end it is more a question of being different than better, with this being the most different of the three. So it goes with young Riesling. Let's come back in five years and see what they look like with a little age. For the moment, they are all pretty fine and reasonable minds might differ.

Juicy and engaging, with peach, pear and mirabelle plum notes bouncing playfully off each other, while honeysuckle and anise hints peek in. Long, zingy finish. Drink now through 2030. 800 cases made.