25 Sep Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Willing and Able 2023 Dry Riesling, Kick On Vineyard, Santa Barbara County

In the world of wine, Riesling is a noble grape variety and is beloved by many. However, some people may be quick to discount Riesling as a sweet wine. And, there are many examples to support that. But Riesling is a versatile wine that produces a range of styles from bone-dry to sweet. And a deliciously dry Riesling is just that! That is why when I discovered the Willing and Able 2023 Dry Riesling from the Kick On Vineyard in Santa Barbara County, I knew it would be the Please The Palate wine of the week.

About

Riesling used to be the most popular white wine grape in California. Originally from Germany, Riesling was first planted in the United States in Sonoma County in 1857 by Hungarian-born Agoston Haraszthy, also known as the Father of American Wine. In the 1960s, Riesling was one of the top four wine varieties in the US. But when Chardonnay’s popularity grew in the 1970s, Riesling’s popularity sank. Over the decades, there has been as much as 8500 acres of Riesling planted and a little as 282 acres. Today there are approximately 3000 acres planted, with the majority planted in Monterey County.

But there is a small amount of Riesling planted in Santa Barbara County in the Kick On Vineyard located 6 miles west of the town of Los Alamos and 10 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. Located off Highway 135, the vineyard is not protected by mountains and is instead exposed to the fog and wind coming from the ocean. Riesling was planted at Kick On in the late 1990s and producers including Tatomer, Stirm, Ojai Vineyards, and J. Brix purchase this fruit.

Winemaker Will Shaban also purchases Riesling from Kick On Ranch for his own label Willing and Able. Will, who is originally from New Jersey, first fell in love working at a restaurant when in college in Arizona. He worked as a sommelier in New Jersey and Arizona before driving west and ending up in Pismo Beach. He got a job at a wine shop in Pismo where he met Kevin Law, owner and winemaker at Cotiere Wine in Santa Barbara County. Will started interning for Kevin and is now the assistant winemaker at Cotiere. He started his own label in 2021, currently only making Riesling.

Tasting Notes

Botrytis (noble rot) formed on the grapes on the vine. While botrytis is wonderful for producing a sweet wine, Will ferments his Riesling dry. However, the botrytis helps contribute to the richness of the nose of the wine. The wine is fermented and aged in stainless steel and bottled unfined and unfiltered. The 2023 Riesling offers notes of apricot, citrus, and wet stones for beautiful minerality. The wine is dry with linear focus and crisp acidity, but there is also a roundness on the mid-palate that gives the wine some texture and weight.

Food Pairing

This dry Riesling is ideal to pair with a variety of dishes, from seafood to Mexican food to Asian dishes. The wine is dry but the richness in the mid-palate makes it perfect for food with a little spice. I first tried the wine and enjoyed it with Bun Cha Hanoi, grilled pork with noodles, spicy sauce, herbs, and peanuts. I then took home a bottle and brought it to a friend’s house for dinner. We enjoyed the Riesling with cream of asparagus soup with a Parmesan crisp. The clean linear acidity cut through the soup’s richness demonstrating the beauty of dry Riesling with food.

Where To Purchase

Only 75 cases of Willing and Able Riesling are made each year. The wine retails for $30 and can be purchased online via the Cotiere Winery website.