Random Wines in Iowa

Had dinner at this small "world bistro" place in downtown Iowa City. These guys had reasonably priced ($4) half glasses on their wine list. (Half the price of a full glass! Who would've thought!) I was pleased to see the Leitz Dragonstone Riesling on the list (I never normally see any wines I recognize anywhere), but they didn't have it by the glass.

Artazuri, Garnacha, unknown vintage
Deep, inky red (or it couldve been the lighting. But definitely darker than Pinot). Meaty start, but bold and long fruity middle and finish. Not much of a nose though. Interesting varietal, but probably wouldn't buy a whole bottle of it.

St. Urbans-hof Riesling, unknown vintage
Very citrusy. Slightly floral start, then acid (I love acid), then a grapefruity and slightly efervescent finish. Pleasantly sweet. Very solid, especially what must be a reasonable bottle price. Definitely the same-day crowd pleaser buy option. I got a bottle of Christoffel at Whole Foods in Seattle for a bbq w/ Greg-Lillian-Dave-Cynthia. Forgot to record the details. A little too sweet (it was a spatlese) compared to acid for me, and too much petrol-minerality to be broadly pleasing. This riesling would've been a better pick.

The food at this place was also pretty good. The onion soup was not at the limit of my salt tolerance like it is at most restaurants (and I have pretty salty tastes), and the steak salad I ordered medium-rare actually came medium-rare! The gelato for dessert was kind of bad though, it was full of ice crystals and was slightly gritty, as if it had melted and refrozen. Oh well, almost perfect.