Tantalus Riesling 2025

This iconic white wine originates from Canada, grown on the spectacular eastern slopes of the Okanagan Valley overlooking Lake Okanagan in East Kelowna, British Columbia. Tantalus Vineyards is widely regarded as one of the country's absolute benchmark Riesling producers. They operate on a historic site first planted to table grapes in 1927, making it one of the oldest continuously producing vineyards in Western Canada.

While the estate has deep roots with its legendary 1978 "Old Vines" block, this flagship bottling relies heavily on their younger estate blocks planted in 2005, yielding a style renowned for its laser-focused precision, vibrant fruit energy, and electric tension.

Wine Description

The Tantalus Riesling 2025 is a beautifully expressive, energetic, and heavily structured white wine that showcases high-acid purity balanced flawlessly by a touch of natural residual sugar.

• Appearance: A pale, luminous yellow with clean platinum highlights.

• Nose: Highly aromatic and instantly captivating. The bouquet bursts with bright aromas of lemon and lime zest, yellow peach, and mandarin orange, layered with hints of grapefruit oil and orange blossom. Deeper nuances of wet stone and green spruce tip add a compelling, earthy intrigue.

• Palate: Tense, crisp, and incredibly juicy. The palate delivers an absolute wave of mandarin and white grapefruit flavors, evolving into candied lime peel, pineapple, and a distinctive "crunchy" green apple note right through the mid-palate. The finish is extended, mouthwatering, and defined by a signature, chalky dry minerality.

• Technical Details: 100% Riesling. The fruit was harvested between late September and early October, using a blend of clones 21B (75%) and 49 (25%) from their 2005 estate blocks and a select neighboring East Kelowna Slopes vineyard. The grapes were gently whole-bunch pressed and fermented cold in stainless steel. The wine was kept resting on its fine lees for 3.5 months to build subtle texture. Structurally, it sits at 12.2% ABV with a soaring, electric total acidity of 9.45 g/L, balanced by 14.9 g/L of residual sweetness (making it a textbook off-dry style that drinks like a dry wine due to the massive acid).

Food Pairing

Thanks to its powerful, structural acidity and tiny whisper of residual sugar, this Riesling is an elite food wine. It acts as a perfect foil to spicy Asian cuisine, matching flawlessly with Thai green curry, spicy pork potstickers, or sushi with wasabi. It is equally fantastic paired with fresh seafood salads, ceviche, gravlax, or roasted pork belly with an apple glaze. For a cheese course, pour it alongside a fresh, tangy goat cheese.