Riesling

Location: Worldwide

Origin: Rhine River Region, Germany

Top Growing Sites: Germany, France, United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa

Climate: Riesling thrives best in cool climates, where it can ripe into the late fall. In hot climates, Riesling generally loses its fine, delicate flavors.

Soil Types: Riesling is considered one of the grape varieties that best expresses the terroir of the place where it is grown. It is particularly well suited for slate and sandy clay soil.

Wine Style:
Acidic grape varietals like riesling are often made into wines with a touch of sweetness to balance their natural acidity. In Germany, riesling wine labels indicate the ripeness (and therefore sweetness) of the grapes when they were picked, with five different levels:

1. Kabinett (bone dry to off-dry)

2. Spätlese (sweet)

3. Auslese (sweeter)

4. Beerenauslese (very sweet)

5. Trockenbeerenauslese (sweetest)

Acidity: High 

Glassware: The Riesling wine glass is quite small, with a smaller rim. As Rieslings tend to be quite sweet, the glass is designed to cut down on the intensity of the sweet flavor with the smaller rim. A smaller rim on a wine glass will send the wine to the back of the mouth avoiding overwhelming the senses with intense sweetness.

Serving Temperature: 8 degrees C, or 45-50 degrees F

Cellaring: Riesling is considered aged after five years and Riesling which is high in acid and sugar or both can sometimes be cellared for twenty years or longer. Having said that, cellaring a Riesling must be done with care – otherwise, it won't improve with age.

Genetics: More recently, DNA fingerprinting by Ferdinand Regner indicated that one parent of Riesling is Gouais blanc, known to the Germans as Weißer Heunisch, a variety that, while rare today, was widely grown by the French and German peasantry of the Middle Ages. The other parent is a cross between a wild vine and Traminer.

Vine Species: Vitis Vinifera

Flavor Profile: Apple, pear, lemon, lime peel, grapefruit, mango, pineapple, apricot, nectarine, honeycomb, rose, jasmine, wet rock, slate, minerality, petrol, kerosene

Fun Facts:

  • Riesling belongs to one of the oldest grape varietals originating in Germany in 1435
  • Riesling grape vines have a thicker bark than most making it ideal for growing in cooler climates
  • It has a lower alcohol content than most varietals
  • It can be used to make dry, semi-sweet, or sweet white wines
  • Riesling are well known for helping to clear the palette after a spicy meal
  • Did you know their is such a thing as a red Riesling?! It’s made form a mutation of white grape varietal
  • It makes an excellent desert wine
  • International Riesling Day is celebrated on 13 March each year as this date is recognised as the birthday of Riesling. March 13, 1435 is the date of an invoice, which is the oldest documented date referring to Riesling or Riesslingen as it was called in Germany – the heart of Riesling – at that time.
  • Riesling is originally a German varietal 
  • Riesling d’Alsace is an A.O.C. and is a different grape variety from just Riesling. Rieslings from Alsace are different from German Rieslings. Alsatian Rieslings generally have a higher alcohol content than their German counterparts, around 12%. Alsace Rieslings are generally dry with cleansing acidity. Quality vintages can be aged for up to 20 years.
  • The cultivation of French Riesling is dominated by Alsace where the Rhine touches the Taunus mountains, where the good weather, the terroir and the cool climate favour Riesling.
  • Riesling is known to have been planted in Alsace in 1477, when the Duke of Lorraine praised its quality.
  • Until the early 1990s, Riesling was the most widely planted white grape in Australia, when Chardonnay became much more popular..
  • The warmer Australian climate produces riesling grape skins that are up to 7 times thicker than grapes grown in Germany!
  • Riesling is also grown in Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Luxembourg, northern Italy including Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Croatia, Austria and central Europe including Romania and Moldova, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, China, Ukraine and the United States (Washington, California, Michigan and New York), as well as in the surprising wine regions of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
  • Riesling is a natural derivative of gouais blanc, a French grape that is the grandmother of many of today’s best known wines, including chardonnay, riesling, petit verdot, chenin blanc and muscadelle. Gouais Blanc was widely cultivated by the French and German peasantry in the Middle Ages.
  • Its other parent is a cross between a wild vine and a Traminer. It is assumed that the Riesling originated somewhere in the Rhine Valley, as both Heunisch (gouais blanc) and Traminer have a long documented history in Germany, but with parents from both sides of the Adriatic, the cross could have occurred anywhere along the way.
  • Riesling grapes are yellow or pale green, then mottled all over with pink and light red spots.
  • Riesling is a versatile grape varietal – dry, sweet and semi-sweet wines are made from Riesling grapes.
  • Although rarely seen, red Riesling exists in Germany and Austria where it is known as ‘roter Riesling’. The skins are dark pink, but the resulting wine tastes similar to its white counterpart
  • Riesling wines offer fruit aromas.(berries, fruit, citrus). It is not unusual to find aromas of apricot, nectarine, peach, apple, pear, pineapple, lime or Meyer lemon.
  • On the nose, you can expect herbal, spicy, floral, mineral, earthy aromas. You may also find honey, honeycomb, beeswax, petrol, ginger, citrus blossom, rubber or even diesel fuel.
  • Aged Rieslings may have aromas of diesel, petrol or lanolin.
  • Riesling is well known for cleansing the palate after a spicy meal.