Riesling grapes produce outstanding wines

By Staff
May 14, 2003
In the years we have been writing about wine and conducting tastings, we have neglected one of the greatest grapes in the world and the wonderful wines from which it is made.
I really don't know why. We just have.
The grape is the Riesling, used worldwide to make wines which command extremely high prices and which are darn well worth it. Most of the great wines from the Alsace area of France are Riesling-based. The delicious, sometimes almost luscious, wines from Germany use the Riesling grape. We produce Riesling-based wines in America. So does Australia, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa and goodness knows how many other countries.
Wine writer Tom Stevenson once said this about the Rieslings: "A classic German grape variety. Although other German grapes and crosses can make good commercial wines, the Riesling, if properly handled, produces a wine of such tremendous fruit-acidity ratio that it is in a different class. It is light in body and low in alcohol, yet intensely flavored and very long lived. With some bottle age the finest Rieslings develop a vivid and zesty bouquet."
The flavors range from almost intensely sweet to the tart flavors of Granny Smith apples. They are equally tasty, though different. As you have guessed by now, it is our wine of choice for the May 29 wine tasting. We should have done it a year ago.
We will serve seven varied bottles of this wine. Three will come from the United States. One will be from Alsace and it will likely be the wine of the evening. Three will be brilliant examples of German wines made from this grape. All are white.
May is the perfect time to learn about the flavor and nuances created by Riesling grapes. It is as fine a wine for warm weather patio consumption as there is on the market today. Forgive me if this sounds like overselling but let me quote another well known wine author, Bern C. Ramey.
In his Pocket Dictionary of Wines Ramey wrote this about Riesling wines: "A classic example of perfection in white wine grapes. The great debate: Is this better than pinot chardonnay? And one shouldn't compare. They produce different and equally great wines. Rieslings produce wines of delicacy, finesse, amazing bouquet and superb drinking."
I've never understood why white zinfandel sells so well when many Riesling wines of great quality are available for under $10 per bottle.
Tonight prior to writing this column several friends came over to try two of the wines we plan to serve on the 29th. One is a Riesling produced by Hogue winery of Columbia Valley in Washington. It turned out to be a subtly sweet, fruit forward wine which offered bright peach and apricot flavors, made to order for an accompaniment to chicken or seafood salads and summer evenings on the deck. It was wonderful.
The other, which will also be served, is the J. Lohr white Riesling from Monterey County in California. This one was a bit drier, but it had what is called spritzel a very desirable slight effervescence that tingles your tongue in the same way champagne can do. It is sought after in wine and not at all common, but the J. Lohr has it.
The third California Riesling will be our door wine from the famed Firestore estate in Santa Ynez Valley, California. Stevenson wrote about Firestone, "a very conscientious winery that makes fine wines. The wines are usually rich and ripe and can sometimes be magnificent."
As for the wine from Alsace, my fellow wine lovers have persuaded me to serve the best and most expensive Domaine Weinbach's Schlossberg. One critic wrote: "This wine has a beautiful floral aroma, utterly ravishing fruit, astonishing finesse, and although it is a wine of pure joy, it has great potential complexity."
We will serve the 1997 which was not even ready until last year. Famed Robert Parker rated it a 90, very high praise for Parker who is noted for his conservatism.
Next week we will discuss the German wines selected. Meantime the price for this tasting will be only $25 and you really won't realize how inexpensive that is until you taste the wines.
Call 482-0930 and make your reservations. That's important because it tells us how much wine to purchase. The date again is May 29 and, as usual, it will be held at Northwood Country Club for members and non-members alike.