Though she claims a limited repetoire as an oenophile, Menupages Chicago super-blogger Helen Rosner bested Food and Wine grape genius Ray Isle this week. This month, Isle lauds affordable Argentenian Malbec and calls out the 2007 Clos De La Siete Malbec blend as his “Star Selection”. At about the same time I was flipping through Food and Wine, and just before I went to Binnys, I came across Rosner’s posting about her love for Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling, 2007. I decided to pick up both. The Clos had a lot of fruit but ended up totally bitter and highly alcoholic in the finish and I’d felt like I’d wasted $16 and would have been better off with some Charles Shaw Shiraz and 12 Super Lotto tickets. Whereas, last night the Kung Fu girl full of citrus and lots of acid cut right through the heat and sweet of a schwarma and falafel throwdown from Baba Pita. For $11.99 (at Binny’s) it was a brilliant wine, and easily as good as some 20 or 30 dollar Austrian or German rieslings. Though be warned, it doesn’t have the minerality of the Euros, but displays more of a lemon and grapefruit New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc profile, albiet with a touch more sweetness. One thing’s for sure, it’s the perfect wine for a Cantonese or Thai chowfest. I suspect Isle was swayed a bit by the Clos’s pedigree via French superstar wine consultant Michel Rolland. The lesson here is that wine (and food) critques have nothing to do with superior knowledge, but rather, about being true to your palate.