Riesling, riesling, riesling

One of the most common questions heard in-store lately is "Is there a magic wine to pair with everything?"
In this up-coming season of parties or other festive events, the answer is... Riesling. Riesling is an extremely versatile grape, grown in just about every wine region in the world and can range in style from extremely sweet to bone dry or anywhere in between. Riesling is also generally lower in alcohol, usually between 7-12%, which makes it a good choice for parties or dinner events where several glasses may be poured.



Inexpensive ($20 and under)
The Jaszbery Riesling from Hungary shows terrific value and is demonstrative of the elegance of Riesling. Light, crisp and with a slight sweetness, this is one for the late-night sipper, or to pair with fish, salads or mild cheeses.


A nice introduction to BC Riesling is Jackson-Triggs Dry Riesling (released under the black label Proprietor's Reserve). This Riesling is everything a great dry Riesling should be- an aromatic nose full of citrus fruit and slight floral, but with a palate that is bursting with crisp red apple, citrusy grapefruit notes and orange blossom. This wine would pair exceptionally well with chicken dishes, appetizers, spicy food or a variety of cheeses.



Gehringer's Dry Riesling is another fine example of a dry style Riesling. This one shows lots of red and green apple flavours with hints of floral, citrus and nectarine, making it appropriate to pair with many foods ranging from fish and salads to chicken, pizza, cheeses or anything spicy.



Gray Monk's Riesling shows a slight sweetness but plenty of grapefruit, mineral and lemon green apple flavours. A great wine for pairing with curries or cheese.


Another great inexpensive Riesling is the Firehose Riesling from the Rebel wine group in California (makers of The Show Cabernet Sauvignon and Wingnut Zinfandel). This Riesling begins with a slight peachy scented sweetness which is tempered by the incredible zesty lime on the finish. A great wine for appies, but also curries, spicy Thai food or pizza.



Yalumba (of Australia) Y Series Riesling shows juicy notes of grapefruit, lime and apple with a bright acidity and a dry finish.


From Germany comes a nice array of Rieslings, ranging from reasonable to fairly expensive. In choosing a Riesling from Germany, it is important to understand the labelling system. If searching for a dry Riesling, look for Trocken or Kabinett. Off-dry can sometimes be labelled as halbtrocken. There is also Auslese (ows-layz-ay), which is slightly off-dry to quite sweet, or Spatlese (Shpat-lay-zay) which is indicative of a sweet Riesling.

Deinhard's Dry Classic Riesling shows nectarine, green apple and pear aromas with similar flavours on the palate. This one is meant for aperitifs, salads or lighter style foods.

Deinhard's Piesporter Riesling is definitely on the sweeter side, but shows nice acidity and green apple and citrus flavours balanced by the stone-fruit sweetness. This is a great pairing for appies, chicken, foie gras, prawns or anything where the sweetness and acidity will balance the dish.

The Loosen Bros. "Dr. L" is also a nice choice in the Riesling realm. With only 8% alcohol, this delicate Riesling is great for aperitifs as it shows peach, grapefruit and mineral flavours and a long subtle finish.



$20-$40

On the slightly more expensive side of Rieslings, look to BC, Washington State or Germany.

From BC, some stellar examples are:

Tantalus Riesling, (made in a dry style) shows lemon, lime, mineral and red apple aromas and flavours with a brisk acidity making it an excellent choice for food pairing.

Lang Riesling (made in a off-dry style) shows orange blossom and honey notes balanced by green apple, mineral and citrus flavours.

Lang Late Harvest Riesling is a terrific value, as many late harvest wines are bottled in the 375 ml size, but this one is bottled in the standard 750 ml size. This wine shows plenty of honeyed orange blossom, nectarine peach and apple notes balanced by a zingy acidity. This wine pairs supremely well with desserts, cheeses or spicy dishes.

Washington State's Long Shadow vintners bring the Poet's Leap Riesling, a clean, refreshing wine with flavours and aromas of white peach, nectarine, honey, ginger and apricot with crisp acidity and a long, lively finish.

Also from Washington State is the Seven Hills Riesling. This wine shows abundant apple and floral aromas with mineral undertones, a slight sweetness and a clean crisp finish.

From Germany is the Donnhoff series of Rieslings. Helmut Donnhoff is currently acknowledged to be one of the best winemakers in Germany, and relies heavily on the terroir of his vineyards and of the Nahe region which generally produces Riesling of an opulent, rich spicy character with an underlying acidity. Learn more about Donnhoff and the Nahe region:http://www.thewinedoctor.com/germany/donnhoff.shtml

The Norheimer Kirschkeck Spatlese Riesling is a very structured white with creamy vanilla, corn and floral aromas and flavours. This is a wine worthy of aging, but if consumed young, it is best served with food.
The Oberhauser Leistenberg Kabinett Riesling is gorgeous, showing plenty of grapefruit, mandarin and stone notes with bright acidity and a long graceful finish. This wine is meant to be consumed young, and is superb with or without food.
The other two Donnhoff Rieslings are also fantastic examples of the balance between acid and sweetness. There is the straight Riesling which shows chalky and mineral notes as well as a ripe sweetness. The Riesling Trocken is much more dry than the straight Riesling with slightly more mineral slate character and a little less sweetness. Both of these Rieslings are meant to be consumed young, and should also pair well with a variety of foods.

Although this was meant to be a short post on the wonderful versatility of Riesling, there are just too many different and great Rieslings to limit this subject to a few words. The best way to learn about this grape is just to try some from all over the world!