Riesling

Your Next Lesson: Riesling

JUNE 2, 2014

Inside

Photo

Time to explore dry German rieslings.Credit Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

 

Wine School, a monthly column, invites you to drink wine with Eric Asimov. In each installment, Mr. Asimov chooses a type of wine for you to try at home. After a month, Mr. Asimov posts his reaction to the wine and addresses readers’ thoughts and questions. The last installment of Wine School featured Sancerre. This month’s wine selection: Riesling.

 

This month we leave France for Germany and for riesling. Like sauvignon blanc, riesling is produced all over the world. But just as an understanding of sauvignon blanc must begin in the Loire Valley, an examination of riesling starts with Germany.

 

Not that we don’t have many options. Wonderful, distinctive examples of riesling come from Alsace and from Austria. I’ve had great rieslings from Napa Valley and the Finger Lakes, from Australia and New Zealand, from Michigan and Ontario.

                        

 

It is often assumed that riesling is a sweet wine, because for much of the 20th century the dominant style in Germany was of riesling with varying degrees of sweetness. Yet today, German wine drinkers vastly prefer dry rieslings, and many of the better examples are now exported to the United States.

I love the German style of sweet riesling. These wines are so carefully calibrated that the best are thoroughly refreshing no matter how sweet. They are low in alcohol, beautifully reflect their places of origin, and are unlike any other rieslings. Yet the dry German rieslings can be superb and distinctive as well. Since the nomenclature surrounding the sweet styles is so complex and convoluted, we’ll focus first on dry rieslings.

Here are the three German rieslings that I suggest you find:

Dönnhoff Nahe Riesling Trocken 2012 (Terry Theise Estate Selection/Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y.) $20.

Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Pfalz Bürklin Estate Dry Riesling 2012 (Europvin U.S.A., Van Nuys, Calif.) $18.

 

Leitz Rheingau Riesling Trocken Eins Zwei Dry 2012 (Terry Theise Estate Selection/Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y.) $17.

Each of these producers makes many different wines, so take care in selecting these bottles. They may be hard to find. Though it is often a good sign when wines are made in small quantities, it’s also frustrating for consumers.

 

Riesling is among the most versatile wines with food and should go well with seafood, chicken and cheeses. These wines are also good with Chinese dishes that are not too hot, Japanese food and even Indian food, again, as long as it isn’t too hot.

As with most good white wines, try not to serve them icy cold. A rule of thumb is 30 minutes out of the fridge before drinking. Lightly chilled is what you’re after. And while you are drinking them, consider these three questions:

 

Does the wine taste and smell like fruit? Or something else? If something else, how would you describe it? German rieslings often offer great examples of “minerality.” Does that strike you as a fair description?

Minerality is often as much about texture as it is flavor. How does the wine feel in your mouth, and can you still feel it after you’ve swallowed the wine? How does it go with the food?

If you care to, compare these German rieslings with examples from elsewhere and see if you can describe how they differ.