Riesling
Perhaps emanating from the palates of American wine drinkers, Riesling is probably the least understood wine grape in the world. Yet, when you combine its magnificent flavors, potential complexity, food friendliness, ageability, it may be the ultimate white grape for winemakers and oenophiles the world over.
On this Riesling journey, we'll drink Riesling in various corners of the world, but that starts tomorrow. As we travel, we'll start in South Africa, take the long flight to Clare Valley in Australia, travel to upstate New York (Finger Lakes), head west to Willammette Valley in Oregon (with apologies to western Washington), and then we're off to Europe first the Alsace region of France, making a quick jaunt into Austria, and then finishing in Germany where we'll explore the various classifications of Riesling.
But, today, what exactly is Riesling?
It's an aromatic, white grape that is pronounced with a long e followed by the sound you get from the s in words like sea or even the first s in supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. The first i is silent (in German, when there are two consecutive vowels, the first is silent) and there is no z sound. I'm certain that the linguists among us could explain this better, but I am not one of them. Riesling is also quite acidic and what makes it so appealing to winemakers is the way that expresses the terroir on which it is grown.
Open a bottle of Riesling. Sniff it immediately before pouring it. The educated nose will notice a veritable cornucopia of aromas depending on the style in which it has been made often including so-called stone fruit (apricot and nectarine), orchard fruit (apple and pear), lime zest, honeycomb, and what I think is jasmine (my knowledge of flowers is not what I would call expansive).
Pour it; swirl it; smell it again; and taste it. You'll still likely get the stone and orchard fruit, lemon, honey, and even some esoteric descriptors such as lanolin, and diesel fuel (not in a bad way). The very high acidity combined with the complexity on the palate is what makes Riesling so food friendly.
Drink Riesling with almost anything you like except red meat (I suppose you could do that as well, but it would neither do the meat nor the Riesling justice), but in particularly, the spices of southeast Asia and Sichuan and Hunan provinces of China, roasted vegetables particularly those with some natural sweetness like Vidalia onions, and even duck, shrimp, and crab. If you're really adventurous, try your favorite Riesling with baon and eggs.
I started by saying that Riesling is misunderstood, particularly in the US. Inexpensive jug Rieslings typically have annoying sweetness, complete lack of balance, and no finesse. What they have is alcohol and random amounts of sugar. And, in the 1960s through much of the 1990s in the US, this is what was considered to be [the only] Riesling.
Give it a chance and you'll stay with it. We will for the next week or so.
On this Riesling journey, we'll drink Riesling in various corners of the world, but that starts tomorrow. As we travel, we'll start in South Africa, take the long flight to Clare Valley in Australia, travel to upstate New York (Finger Lakes), head west to Willammette Valley in Oregon (with apologies to western Washington), and then we're off to Europe first the Alsace region of France, making a quick jaunt into Austria, and then finishing in Germany where we'll explore the various classifications of Riesling.
But, today, what exactly is Riesling?
It's an aromatic, white grape that is pronounced with a long e followed by the sound you get from the s in words like sea or even the first s in supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. The first i is silent (in German, when there are two consecutive vowels, the first is silent) and there is no z sound. I'm certain that the linguists among us could explain this better, but I am not one of them. Riesling is also quite acidic and what makes it so appealing to winemakers is the way that expresses the terroir on which it is grown.
Open a bottle of Riesling. Sniff it immediately before pouring it. The educated nose will notice a veritable cornucopia of aromas depending on the style in which it has been made often including so-called stone fruit (apricot and nectarine), orchard fruit (apple and pear), lime zest, honeycomb, and what I think is jasmine (my knowledge of flowers is not what I would call expansive).
Pour it; swirl it; smell it again; and taste it. You'll still likely get the stone and orchard fruit, lemon, honey, and even some esoteric descriptors such as lanolin, and diesel fuel (not in a bad way). The very high acidity combined with the complexity on the palate is what makes Riesling so food friendly.
Drink Riesling with almost anything you like except red meat (I suppose you could do that as well, but it would neither do the meat nor the Riesling justice), but in particularly, the spices of southeast Asia and Sichuan and Hunan provinces of China, roasted vegetables particularly those with some natural sweetness like Vidalia onions, and even duck, shrimp, and crab. If you're really adventurous, try your favorite Riesling with baon and eggs.
I started by saying that Riesling is misunderstood, particularly in the US. Inexpensive jug Rieslings typically have annoying sweetness, complete lack of balance, and no finesse. What they have is alcohol and random amounts of sugar. And, in the 1960s through much of the 1990s in the US, this is what was considered to be [the only] Riesling.
Give it a chance and you'll stay with it. We will for the next week or so.
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