Gonzales Riesling Columbia Valley 2022

There’s a quiet elation in the glass of the Gonzales Wine Company Riesling Oasis Vineyard—a wine that somehow marries the high desert’s dry breath with the cool morning fog that threads through Oasis Vineyard’s terraces. On the nose, crystalline citrus zest—lime peel and Meyer lemon—bristles against a whisper of wet slate and chamomile, like sun-kissed stone warmed at dawn.

The first sip is electric: talc-fine acidity propels bright orchard fruit—Green Anjou pear, boysenberry blossom, and a flash of white grapefruit—across the palate with a saline undercurrent that evokes crushed river rock. At just enough sweetness to soften its steely spine, this Riesling balances tension and generosity: yellow apple flesh, honeysuckle nectar, and a trace of ginger candy linger long after the last sip, lifting into a finish that feels like a slow exhale at sundown. It’s a Riesling shaped by place—cool nights, sun-baked days—but articulated with clarity, precision, and a sense of joyful poise.