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Riesling, the Unfashionable Aristocrat
Article Posted: Thursday August 30th
Article last updated on: Thursday August 30th
Sarah Marsh compares the classic German Riesling with some of its New World counterparts,
and recommends some excellent examples...
How have the mighty fallen. The aristocratic Riesling grape has become almost socially unacceptable on the English table. No great suprise when you recall student days when Liebfraumilch was the preferred poison. Sweet German plonk, quaffable as lemonade - and about as sophisticated. My generation, weaned on the stuff, swiftly moved onto to New world wine, respectable at dinner parties, attracted unconsciously by the high residual sugar levels in the likes of a sun-packed Australian Chardonnay. Unlikely as this seems, this move may be a blessing in disguise for Riesling. Customers who have turned their backs on old world Riesling seem more willing to sup the grape with a stamp of New World approval. Young Riesling has a crisp floral aroma which matures into an unmistakable blast of pungent diesel. Its delicate lime and honey qualities harmonise with age creating a finely balanced wine. Riesling sweeps through the sweetness spectrum with selected late-picked grapes producing rich apricot and peach characteristics that are matched by lively acidity. New World Rieslings
Antipodean Riesling tends to be precocious with a heady petrol aroma developing early. New Zealand's Stoneleigh Riesling 1993 is powerfully like kerosene with round kiwi fruit flavours and a lingering sweetness. Stg 4.99 from Wine Rack and Bottoms Up. New World Riesling can have a nose more like a Sauvignon Blanc. The gooseberry-like Las Colinas Riesling 1994 from Chile follows up with lots of up-front fruit - Stg 3.99 from Wine Rack and Bottoms Up. Wynns Coonawarra Riesling 1993 has more old world acidity. The citrus attack is backed up with a hint of gravel and slight spritz - Stg 4.39 from Wine Rack. These new world Rieslings should convert the sceptic and hopefully motivate them to return to Germany, where the grape achieves its world class potential. Rieslings from the Rhine and Mosel Germany can be a risky place for vinegrowing. The Mosel and Mittel Rhein vines are on the climatic periphery for ripening grapes. The Germans use the microclimate skillfully, planting their best vines on south-facing slopes near the moderating influence of rivers. Slow ripening Riesling is well suited to these conditions, giving the sun time to work. So important is this process that the Germans have based their classification system on the level of sweetness in the grapes. Sweetness - that most derogatory of terms in the English wine consumer's vocabulary. How do you account for the snobbery atttached to dry wine? It's quite plausible that the Liebfraumilch student moves on from a passionate affair with New World wine (they'll stay in touch) to the more complex, serious old world classics. Many people's taste stops evolving at this point, which explains why certain white wines that are characterised by dryness, Frenchness and high prices become perennial favourites on wine lists. They represent the sophisticated safe bet with food. In the Eighties the Germans looked across to their continental neighbours making dry food wine. They followed suit with trocken - dry - and halbtrocken -off dry - wine, fermenting out all the sugar. Merner 1994 Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken at Stg 6.99 from Oddbins, with its almost mineral quality, is a good example of this. Unfortunately in a trocken Kabinett, dryness can outweigh fruit with unforgiving harshness. A Sp
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