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Wines for Today - Riesling Renaissance
Most wine writers' favourite white grape variety is not the one you might expect ... the famous and popular Chardonnay. No, it's Riesling (pronounced 'Reece-ling') and has been for many years. At last it seems, Riesling is making a comeback amongst North American and even British wine drinkers, and most importantly perhaps amongst the wine lovers of its homeland, Germany. Germany's most planted grape variety is Riesling where it thrives on the steep vineyard slopes of the Rhine River and its tributaries, most notably the Mosel. Here the climate is cool (and in the coolest areas it actually benefits from global warming). Ripening of the grapes is helped along partly by the reflection of the sun from the rivers and partly by the deep soils. In places the soils have a top layer of broken-up slate, that looks almost like roof tiles and also aids ripening by further reflection of the sun. Riesling has for a long time been planted in New World countries, most notably in Australia, where it was brought over in the 19th century by German immigrants. But, just as New World wines were gaining favour in the late '80s and the '90s, so Riesling was losing it as poor examples of medium sweet German wines had put off consumers who instead were drawn to wines from Chardonnay and other varieties. Some producers in Australia persisted, as they did in the cooler climates of New Zealand and a small band of followers kept buying the wines, enjoying their fruit character and freshness compared to the heavier, oak-laced Chardonnays. In North America too there have always been followers and good examples are found in the Finger Lakes vineyard district of New York State, and Niagara in Canada too makes a speciality of Riesling. So, why is now the right time for a Riesling renaissance? Firstly, a new generation of German producers have injected a dynamism into the country's wine industry and in general better and better quality is being produced. Secondly, Riesling wines are traditionally relatively low in alcohol - in the Mosel region of Germany they are often less than 10%, elsewhere they rarely rise above 12% alcohol and many consumers are looking for somewhat lower levels of alcohol after a decade or two of searching for ever 'bigger' wines. Last and by no means least, Rieslings give white wines with a delicious balance of fresh acidity and fruitiness, with a range from bone dry through off dry, medium dry to very sweet levels available. This means they are wonderful wines to match with aromatic and even gently spicy foods, particularly fusion cooking that mixes Asian and western flavours and is currently much in vogue around the world. So, why is it that top wine writers have always been such great supporters? It is partly the versatility described above and the fact that the really light, off dry or medium dry styles of German Riesling make perfect aperitifs - I reckon many keep a bottle in the fridge and have a drink whilst they are writing (something I'm about to do ....). But, it's also because Riesling produces truly fine and age-worthy wines. A good, well balanced Riesling will stand the test of time, lasting not just 5 - 10 years as most very good white wines might do, but 20, 30, 40 or more years, developing layer upon layer of flavour, but retaining wonderfully fresh acidity. I must go and find that bottle now!
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Contributor's Note
A series of top-level German wine tastings is taking place at present around the world so you will find many other Riesling articles on wine writers' blogs and websites at the moment. Check out my blog for some articles appearing shortly.
www.winetravelguides.com will expand its guides to Germany in a few months.
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