Caterer and Hotelkeeper – 31188

01 January 2000
Caterer and Hotelkeeper – 31188

WHILE Chardonnay has its provenance as a noble grape in Burgundy, Riesling is the great white wine grape of Germany - of the Rhine and the Mosel in particular.

France, apart from Alsace where Riesling makes the best wine of the region, has curiously eschewed the grape. Yet it is widely used in California, New York State, Oregon, Australia, the Italian Tyrol or Alto Adige among other regions and countries.

Its limited international renown in recent years is due probably to the world-wide fashion for Chardonnay rather than the quality of Riesling in its own right.

It is, above all, a most versatile grape. Its fruity, aromatic qualities are found in wines which range from dry to sweet and it reaches spectacular heights with the sweet botrytis-affected Auslesen, Beerenauslesen and Trockenbeerenauslesen of Germany and the concentrated Vendages Tardives and Sélection de Grains Nobles wines of Alsace.

Riesling wines are notable for their ageing qualities. Though it has a reputation as a cool-climate grape based on its long-term success in Germany and Alsace, with modern wine-making methods it adapts well to warmer climates such as California and South Australia where it can produce styles ranging from the austere through light and fragrant to honeyed, late-harvest wines.

The familiar aromatic qualities which become almost petrolly in a mature wine are ever present. So too are the grape's most endearing characteristics - its ability to retain acidity as it ripens and to pass on its fragrant, fruit qualities to the mature wine.

There are some terminological problems. The true Riesling should not be confused with the Welschriesling of central Europe or other inferior grapes with similar names. In Australia wines made from the grape are known as Rhine Riesling to distinguish the real thing from white wines made from other grapes but known generically but inaccurately as Riesling. JH

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