Riesling

Apples, peaches, apricots, minerals and earth

If white wine grapes held a popularity contest, there is a fair chance that Riesling would take the crown, or certainly be in the top three. Originally from the Rhine region of Germany, this late-ripening and high maintenance grape makes some excellent fruity and mineral wines.

Riesling wasn’t always considered a white wine darling and has endured a pretty grim reputation since the 1980s as an overly sweet wine. Luckily, this isn’t the case anymore and a new enthusiasm has spread worldwide among sommeliers and wine aficionadas.

Some of the finest Rieslings come from the valleys of Mosel and Rhine in Germany, but steer towards Alsace, Austria and Australia, the US and New Zealand for great Rieslings too.

Because Rieslings take kindly to their terroir – everything from soil, to climate, to the vineyard’s specificities, they can be crisp and bone-dry, full-bodied and spicy, or luscious and sweet.

With a few German words, it gets easier to distinguish between the sugar levels in Riesling. Look for Trocken for dry, Halb Trocken for half dry, and Fein herb for off-dry, a term used to describe slightly sweeter wines.

Origin:

Rheingau,

Germany

Riesling

Konrad, Bunch Selection Riesling, Marlborough (1989043) (2013)

Konrad, Dry Riesling, Marlborough (1989128) (2015)

Konrad, Dry Riesling, Marlborough (1989128) (2012)

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