Achieving flavor ripeness, by contrast, is simply a question of time. Riesling from Geisenheim on the 50th parallel is picked in the second week of October, when it is hoped to reach as much as 17° brix (10.2% alcohol), the legal minimum for spätlese (literally, “late picked”). Riesling in Sonoma’s Alexander Valley (38th parallel) is also picked in mid-October, but there we hope for less than 25° brix (15% alcohol). Even on a single site, the cold vintages of 2010 and 2011 taught us that California vineyards that would not achieve flavor maturity until over 25° brix in warmer years were
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