Pacific Rim, the Washington state Riesling specialist, has just launched the first edition of a truly charming booklet – and it’s not often I say that about the print material produced by wineries and their public relations sidekicks. Riesling Rules is a beautifully designed, very simple, 40-page booklet made up of small items carrying such titles as ‘Historic “Best” Rieslings Ever’ , ‘Global Riesling Case Production’, ‘James Bond and Riesling’ and ‘Top 10 Cities to Enjoy a Bottle of Riesling’. It’s available free online, and free hard copies can be ordered, here at rieslingrules.com. Charming is the right word for once.
The branding is almost infinitesimal, although Pacific Rim is included as one of 40 entries under ‘Brilliant World-Class Riesling Estates’ (only 11 of them German). You can argue for hours about who should have been included and left out, but good for them for having a go in the first place.
And, in the ‘Famous Lovers of Reason Riesling’ section they almost tricked me in into believing that Schiller really had said "A noble heart will always capitulate to Riesling”.