Exploring Central and Southern Europe

Thu, Aug 29, 24

This week we’ll be trying two excellent Rieslings from Germany, but as can be the case with Riesling the wines are incredibly different from one another! The grape itself has become popular all over the world with major plantings in its homeland of Germany, France, Austria, Washington State, New York, Australia and New Zealand. Buying a Riesling often feels like a bit of a gamble, not knowing what you’ll get, this week we hope to demystify the grape to help you on your next purchase!

First, the things the grape has in common no matter the style it is made into, or the location it comes from. Riesling is naturally a very high acid grape, it makes wine that will make your mouth water and pairs well with food. Riesling is always going to be an aromatic style of wine, whatever the aromas are the tend to jump out of the glass. Finally, those aromas, there are a few that are commonly found in many Riesling. The most controversial aroma is petroleum, or petroleum like aromas. Yes, sometimes Riesling can smell like diesel fuel, kerosine or other petrolly type notes. This isn’t always apparent in Riesling, but it is a note that wine professionals tend to love, but others...not so much! Riesling will also typically have notes of green apple and a bit of green citrus, something that most everyone can agree on!
Now with all of those similarities, Riesling can also have a range of differences. The one we’ll focus on is that Riesling is made into a range of dryness and sweetness levels. It can be hard to tell how sweet or dry a Riesling is, so here are a few tips:

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Look for a sweetness scale on the back, not every Riesling does this but more and more do.
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Know some key terms
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Trocken means dry in German
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Auslese, beerenauslese and trockenbeerenauslese all mean it’ll be sweet!
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Spatlese can go either way
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Check the alcohol levels, the higher the alcohol, typically the dryer the wine.
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Know some regions
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Alsace, Australia and Austria tend to make dry Riesling (A’s are dry!)
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Washington State and Germany can make a range of styles

If all else fails, we have the simplest solution, stop into your nearest Crown Liquors and let us help you pick out a great bottle of Riesling in any style or any occasion!

By Luke Stephenson