To get things started, let’s discuss a topic that I am passionate about – wine #grapes and the #wines they produce. As we approach spring and celebrate annual “International Riesling Day” on March 13th, what better time to talk about the noble grape, #Riesling, which happens to be the signature grape of the Finger Lakes, NY where I call home.
It is so popular here that they dedicate a whole week of events centered around Geneva, NY, located at the northern tip of Seneca Lake. The week-long event is called “FLXcursion” or The Finger Lakes Riesling Wine Conference. It is an international gathering of Riesling regions and producers from around the globe. International Riesling Day is a toast to this versatile, bright, and aromatic grape. Let’s take a closer look at this grape, which is grown and produced in many different parts of the world.
Riesling is considered by many to be the most noble and distinctive white grape variety. The grape is thought to have originated in the Rheingau region of Germany.
The best Riesling has elevated acidity, aromatic, unique sense of purity, and vivid aroma and flavor. The wine is graceful and light on the palate. It’s refined and layered structure along with mouthwatering, delicate flavors that include ripe peaches and apricots (stone fruits) to melon (tropical fruit) to lemons, oranges, and grapefruit (citrus fruits) with vibrant minerality, like the taste of clean water running over stones in a mountain stream. A dangerously easy to drink wine.
More than almost every other white grape, Riesling is temperamental about where it is planted. It doesn’t grow well in very warm places, and even in cooler locations, the quality and character of the wine can vary. The most elegant and precise Rieslings come from cooler climate regions, like New York, Washington state, parts of Australia, France, Germany, Canada, Slovenia, and Austria. You can also find great Rieslings made in cooler pockets within a warm climate. In the cool districts of the Clare and Eden valleys of Australia (tends to have more petrol notes), the top Rieslings are minerally, vibrantly fresh, citrusy, and tight (wine speak for high acidity).
It is not a wine you can just chug. Most sommeliers and wine professionals agree that you’re more likely to stop and think about what you’re drinking. If you’re having a great meal and want something to hold up to it, Riesling should be on the table. Riesling is one of the most flexible food wines thanks to its soaring acidity and is relatively inexpensive. It cuts through the acid in the food and enhances your experience.
Aged Rieslings are some of the most prized wines out there because it’s strong ability to age well with its higher acidity level and some residual sugar (sugar left over after fermentation).
A common assumption about Riesling is that it is sweet or semi-sweet. That is not correct. Unfortunately, consumers have been only exposed to the highly commercial ones available in the US, which tend to be on the sweeter side. If you live in Finger Lakes wine country, like I do, you will find most of the Rieslings are dry. In fact, most of the top Rieslings in the world are dry, except for those that are made intentionally made sweeter, like ice wines and late harvest wines.
Some of the confusion about the sweetness levels of Riesling happens because when you discover a wine that is fruity, you assume its sweet. It’s easy to confuse fruitiness with sweetness. Quick tip – when you sip a wine, hold your nose, and if the wine tastes sweet on the tongue (specifically the tip of the tongue), then it is a sweeter wine. If not, then it has little residual sugar and is therefore fruity. Another way to determine sweetness is to look at the alcohol content. Once you go above 12%, it gets drier. Look for the word trocken “dry” on the label.
To help clarify where a Riesling stands in terms of its taste (for shopping purposes and to get what you want), the International Riesling Foundation (IRF) created a scale/taste profile chart based on the ratio of sugar to acid in the wine. This could also be helpful to those who are diabetic or don’t want to consume a lot of sugar. You will find the chart on the back label of many Rieslings. The spectrum shows from dry to medium dry to medium sweet to sweet and pinpoints where that wine falls on the spectrum.
Try these foods with dry Rieslings –
Raw, cured and smoked fish, particularly salmon and trout though any selection of smoked fish should work well as you’ll see from this pairing for cured salmon. Also sushi, particularly with the slight touch of sugar you get in sushi rice.
Fresh or lightly dressed shellfish, prawns, shrimp, fresh crab, or seafood cocktail. Fish dishes with a creamy sauce.
Pork, particularly fatty cuts like pork belly, better if with some kind of apple or bacon chutney or sauce.
Poultry
Goat cheeses. Young Riesling with young goat cheese, but an aged Riesling with a mature goat cheese is better.
Try these foods with medium dry or off dry Rieslings –
Just think spice. So many spicy dishes work with an off-dry Riesling – Thai, Vietnamese, even Indian. The hotter the dish the sweeter the Riesling, basically.
Asian-style salads, Thai beef salad, spicy noodles, goose, duck, pork, roasted and aromatic veggies, cucumber soup
If you would like to learn more about Riesling and the specific regions it hails from, please let me know. This post would be a dissertation if I discussed every aspect of the grape and the wine. If you would like wine recommendations, just reach out. There are so many different styles for every palate out there. Because my body can’t tolerate high acid wines, I tend to drink more semi-dry Rieslings than dry because it has a lower acid content. Personally, I am more of a Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay wine fan. If you would like wine recommendations, just reach out.
I listed some highly rated local (pricier than most world Rieslings) and worldly Rieslings (great value too) to enjoy with food and during spring and summer months. Look for these online or at your favorite winery and shop. Your feedback is always welcome and encouraged.
Finger Lakes –
Hermann J. Wiemer Flower Day Riesling 2022
Hermann J Wiemer Semi-Dry Riesling 2022
Nathan Kendall ‘Nathan K.’ Dry Riesling 2021
Anthony Road Wine Company Dry Riesling 2021
Forge Cellars Riesling Classique Finger Lakes (every vintage since 2015)
Weis 2019 Dry Riesling Finger Lakes
Hillick & Hobbs Estate Dry Riesling 2021
Boundary Breaks Dry Riesling Finger Lakes No. 239, 2019
Dr. Konstantin Frank Dry Riesling Finger Lakes (every vintage)
World –
Dandelion Vineyards ‘Enchanted Garden of the Eden Valley’ Riesling 2022 (Australia)
Best’s Great Western Riesling 2022 (Australia)
Koehler-Ruprecht Kallstadter ‘Saumagen’ Riesling Kabinett Trocken 2021 (Germany)
Leon Manbach Riesling Grand Cru Frankstein 2019 (France)
Weinhaus Ress Riesling Trocken 2021 (Germany)
Trefethen 2019 Estate Grown Dry Riesling Oak Knoll District (Oregon)
Montinore 2019 Almost Dry Riesling (Oregon)
Fess Parker 2019 Rodney’s Vineyard Riesling (California)
Enjoy! Sante! Cheers! Prost!
Michael