Riesling: A Short Introduction

German wines are one of the more complicated wines to pick out. Most specifically this would be useful when picking out Riesling, the best of white wines. Riesling is a wine that you will find pairs with more foods than any other white wine. Riesling is not that Liebfraumilch in the blue bottle, no it's far better than that. Of course the best and easiest Riesling to find is from Germany. You can also get Riesling from Alsace in France or from Austria, and the new world wineries are starting to put out some Riesling, although reports on new world are mixed at best, most being too sweet.

Riesling is one of the most difficult grapes to grow well, that might explain why the new worlders are having some trouble with it. It just might prove to be the next big white wine. If Riesling lovers had their way, it wouldn't become all that popular. More demand would raise the price of this somewhat underpriced gem. Good Riesling can be cellared for 10 years even. So good with food, underpriced and eminently ageable, no wonder those of us who have discovered it love it. The following style guide from The Wine Avenger will help you pick out the right Riesling for your purpose, look for the following ripeness designation on the bottle:

Kabinett (dry to off-dry): racy, light-to-medium body, little or no sweetness. Elegant.

Spätlese (riper, off-dry): fuller body, fruitier, juicier. Thrilling when well-made.

Auslese (very ripe): light-to-medium body, yet not too sweet for rich entre#233;es. The aging process diminishes an Auslese Riesling's youthful sweetness, resulting in a succulent, yet vibrant white wine that dwarfes all others as a choice for rich fish and white meat preparations. Mature Auslese Rieslings make superior choices in these instances to most light red wines.

Beerenauslese (B.A.) (luscious and sweet): from selected late-harvested, shriveled bunches of grapes. Ethereal dessert wines.

Trockenbeerenauslese (T.B.A.) (unctuous, very sweet and concentrated): from selected late-harvested, shriveled individual grapes. Sweet, vinous Valhalla.

Eiswein (Ice Wine) (ultrasweet with uncanny acidity): from late harvested grapes picked frozen. What little water remains is hung up in the press as ice. The remaining juice is pure fruit extract, sweetness, and acidity. A high-wire balancing act of power and finesse.

A dry idea: Two subcategories that may appear on Kabinett and Spätlese labels are:

Trocken (literally "dry"): nearly zero residual sugar, drier and crisper than the driest Sauvignon Blanc.

Halbtrocken (literally "half-dry"): significant body and richness, yet still essentially dry.

I hope this guide gets you started on your Riesling adventure. There is so much more to learn, but this will get you started appreciating and enjoying the best white wine, Riesling!