Riesling (white)

The one true classic non-French grape, Riesling is the most versatile, scented white variety in the range of wines it produces from dry to lusciously sweet. Yet it's revival always seems to be just around the next corner.

This is

as much because of its tarnished reputation due to Liebfraumilch and the array

of wanna-be Rieslings which have arrogated the good name of Rhine Riesling

(Olasz, Welsch, Laski, Riesling Italico) as for the steely acidity which

generally makes for more demanding wines than those produced from Sauvignon or

Chardonnay. The late-ripening Riesling’s heartland is the steep Mosel and

Rheingau valleys of Germany, where it produces wines rich in crisp, lime and

appley flavours and honeyed richness. Its classification from dry to sweet gives

it an entirely different cultural slant from its French counterparts, with the

perfumed, sweet styles ranging from auslese to trockenbeerenauslese in great

demand. Fine, dry Riesling is not only increasingly fashionable in Germany, but

in Alsace and Austria too, where, in the Wachau in particular, some of the

world’s greatest dry Rieslings are produced. As a cool climate variety par

excellence, Riesling has not adapted as well as the other to classics to the New

World, but there are a handful of regions where it has been shown to do well,

most notably the Eden and Clare Valleys in South Australia, Mount Barker in

Western Australia, New Zealand’s South Island, Washington State, and cooler

spots in California and the Cape’s Constantia.

What does it taste like?

• apples and lime
• honey and petrol characters

Written by