Cave Spring Riesling "CSV" 2007, Niagara $28

Niagara-on-the-Lake is known for its ice wines, and Cave Spring Cellars makes some mighty fine ones. But the region also excels in table wines, especially Riesling, and I'm especially excited that a few producers are making the effort to jump through the regulatory hoops in the various U.S. states and market their wines "south of the border," as it were.

Cave Spring has several Rieslings available in the Mid-Atlantic region, most notably an off-dry wine simply called Niagara Riesling. The CSV is a single-vineyard wine from the Beamsville Bench, the prime vineyard land that stretches across the mid-slope of the Niagara peninsula, from vines more than 30 years old. It is medium-dry, according to , but it tastes dry because of its fine acid/sugar balance, the hallmark of well-made Riesling. It is fine and delicate in a style that remindes me of the stylish wines of the Mittelrhein in Germany. It is not cheap, and it is not plentiful. But it is a lovely wine, with hints of talc and exotic fruits. Its flavors are haunting, like a beautiful woman's perfume that lingers long after the elevator door has closed.

Cave Spring is distributed in Maryland and Washington, D.C., by Boutique Vineyards of Annapolis, Md.

For more Riesling recommendations, see my January 7 column in The Washington Post.