Riesling - The German's under valued gift to the world

Riesling is the only major wine variety not to have originated from France, and is rarely on the tip of people's tongues when thinking of a white to drink.


Hidden behind the two great overlords that are Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling also can suffer when compared to other whites - notably Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Voigner and other rising "trendy whites".

This is surprising when looking at the grape in depth.

With plantations all throughout Germany (although it is not the country’s most planted variety), vineyards of classic reputation in the Alsace region of France - a former geopolitical region of Germany - and some good examples in Northern Italy, Austria, New Zealand and Australia; the grape has remarkable flexibility.

It is resilient to the elements, thanks largely to its strong and tough stems, and capable of producing all different styles of wine. In this, Riesling is quite similar to Semillon. It can produce powerful and very age capable vintages, lusciously sweet dessert wines (if affected by Noble rot or Botrytis) and anything in between.

However, the timing of when the grape is ready for picking is a potential minefield, but most educated winemakers can get around this. So in reality, Riesling has been and still remains arguably the most under rated grape of all wines.

While it is unfair to stereotype, some individuals believe that the reason Riesling’s reputation has suffered is due to the flux of sweeter Rieslings produced en-mass by Germany, forefront among these being the infamous Liebfraumlich.

This comparison may be unmerited, but in many respects this label became the “Miami wine cooler” of the Riesling world, and being a sweeter less complex wine, many mistakenly believed that all Rieslings tasted like this.

A nice urban myth could be “once you have drunk and tired of Liebfraumlich, you then can move onto the serious stuff, like Chardonnay….”

Again, one has to delve much deeper into the grape to understand the vastly differing opinions of the wine. Before the international wine explosion of the 1980’s, often Riesling would have plenty of natural sugar due to the grape naturally ceasing to ferment in cold European winters.

This would give it a naturally low alcohol level, again hurting its comparisons with some of its white cousins.

However, the natural acidity of the grape can lead to massive and bold whites that can be almost undrinkable in their first year or two, before evolving into wines of such power that they would easily hold their own against an oak aged Chardonnay or ancient Semillon.

In Germany, the spiritual home of the wine, they classify their wines with an appellation system similar to the French appellation controlee. Formerly known as the Qmp (Qualitatswein mit Pradikat) and now recognised as the Prädikatswein, it denotes the highest quality of German wine. There are four general categories, of which you can find more information about below

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_wine_classification#cite_note-1

The Alsace varieties in France are typically high end, and considered a noble wine with some of the best sites designated as Premier and Grand Crus. While they are adept at making sweeter styles, the best Alsace Rieslings are the ones that you lock away for five to ten years.

In Australia it is abundant, with the plantings formerly as popular as the now famous Chardonnays in the country. However, while the grape can survive in the heat, it is at its best in colder conditions. As a consequence most Australian Rieslings are bigger and bolder, in keeping with the manner of how they produce their chardonnays.

The same applies in New Zealand, where their best Rieslings can have an uncanny resemblance to their world famous Sauvignon Blanc.

Again this just shows the remarkable versatility of a grape which is one of the originals of the ever growing family of white wines.