Riesling is a white grape that makes plenty of styles, from dry to very sweet. The best dry wines are lean, acidic and offer exceptional fragrance and potentially some minerality. Lemon, lime, green apple, grapefruit, beeswax and jasmine aromas and flavours are considered typical. Some would add petroleum into the mix, though winemakers are divided as to whether this is a varietal character or a fault. The fruit is ready at relatively low sugar levels, making for wines of 11-12.5% alc generally, riper fruit kills off the aromatics which are key to Riesling’s beauty. Riesling pretty much never sees malolactic fermentation nor oak ageing as these winemaking artefacts, so useful in the production of Chardonnay, strip away the essence of good Riesling.
Rizza is up there with Chardonnay vying for the title of best white wine on the planet. For a while there in the early 1800s Riesling was the most expensive wine you could by. These days world class examples can be had for 20 to 30 bucks a bottle. Some might say criminally cheap, we say thank fark! That said, Egon Muller’s top Riesling, the Scharzhofberger will set you back a lazy 25k. Riesling is thought to originate in the Rhine region of Germany (circa 1400) and, unlike Chardonnay, has fairly specific climatic needs in order to make good wine. The best in the world come from Germany (Rheingau and Pfalz), France (Alsace), and Australia incl. Clare, Eden, Mount Barker, Frankland River, Porongurup and parts of Tassie.
Dry Riesling pairs well with vego, chicken and seafood dishes, esp. those without a heavily flavoured sauce. Sweeter Rieslings go beautifully with spicy foods, blue cheese and the really sweet stuff can pair very well with desserts.
