The Best Box Wines – The Original House Wine Riesling

Riesling from the Pacific Northwest.

SRP of $22 and available for as low as $14. Sample submitted for review.

From the box:

“My House is Your House.

A beautiful aromatic nose filled with pineapple, honeysuckle and peach notes. The juicy palate marries pear and clover honey with ripe banana on the crisp finish.

11% Alcohol”

While it’s hard to draw any conclusions about a wine from its label, there are a few things that raise questions for us. One is a non-vintage status. Not necessarily bad in and of itself, it can mean (especially in inexpensive wine) that the sourcing of the wine can vary quite a bit year to year. Basically the winery is giving itself the leeway to blend wine from different vintages together if necessary. Like I said, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does make it awfully hard to judge if the wine you tasted a year ago is going to taste anything like the wine you buy today because you have no idea if it is from the same supply (like you would if it were labeled with a vintage).

Another rule of thumb we follow when buying wine we haven’t tried before is to look for wines that list a specific region, and the smaller the better. The larger the region, the more wines that were likely blended together — again not necessarily a bad thing but it makes it hard to know what you are getting year to year. Based on these two things we were a little worried about the ​Original House Wine Riesling before tasting it based on the non-vintage status and the extremely large “American Wine” region on the box, but have no fear this is quite a good wine.

A nose with light aromas of pear, honeysuckle and a little pineapple turns into a very flavorful and refreshing wine when tasting. Not too sweet and not too dry, this box has a lot of great Riesling character. Juicy pear, apple, some lemon/lime and a bit of tropical fruit are lightly soaked in honey and a touch of nutmeg. On the finish the juicy fruit turns tart and leaves you with lingering pineapple and continuing nutmeg notes. Refreshing and really easy to drink with lots of flavor, this has everything you want in a box wine despite what you might suspect by looking at the label.

Recommended selections in our series on The Best Box Wines:

• Vinchio-Vaglio Serra Piemonte Barbera
• Big House White Blend
• Alain Jaume & Fils Grand Veneur Cotes du Rhone Reserve
• Black Box Platinum Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon
• Esporao Alandra White
• Vina Borgia Garnacha
• The Original House Wine Riesling
• Esporao Alandra Red
• La Petite Frog Picpoul De Pinet
• Pepperwood Grove The Big Green Box Pinot Noir
• Target Wine Cube Sauvignon Blanc
• La Vieille Ferme Vin Rouge
• Duca Del Frassino Garganega/Pinot Grigio
• Wineberry Domaine de Garrigon Cotes du Rhone
• Lieb Cellars Bridge Lane White Blend
• Fuori Strada Off Road Sangiovese
• Jack Tone Vineyards White Blend
• See the full list of all 75 boxes considered here.

See a listing of local retailers selling this wine here.