Admittedly, this wine isn’t really a “learning” wine. I already know I love riesling. I know that something called Prickly that promises effervescence is right up my alley. Its not like I’m trying something like this for the first time. But, at only $10 it seemed a sure thing, so I couldn’t resist.

It was super light yellow in the glass and had the distinctive nose of riesling. I always have the most difficult time describing the nose and flavors of riesling. It's so distinctive to me; riesling smells like riesling! This one smelled citrusy, but less so than the Alsatian riesling from a couple months ago.

As I knew, it was a very easy drinking wine. It was super low in alcohol (in stark contrast to the grenache!) at only 8.7%. If I wasn’t being so mindful of my sugar intake I probably could’ve had half the bottle or more without even realizing it! It had a nice balancing acidity to counter the sugar, that was reminiscent of grapefruit. And, perhaps my favorite, the slightest fizz.

Ok, let’s learn something. This wine is 83% riesling and while it tasted like it could have been 100%, it was 17% something else. That something else is Muscat Gordo. This is not a noble grape variety, by any means. Its also known as Muscat of Alexandria, having thought to have originated in Egypt. However, except for Australia and South Africa, its not often used for wine production. Extensively grown in California for raisins, and “under glass” in Britain and the Netherlands for table grapes, it has a lack of finesse and its major contribution to wine is sweetness. Throughout most of the world people do not do as I did with these grapes, for they eat them rather than drink them.

The Score: ★ ★ ★