WineLife365

Posts Tagged ‘Riesling’

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After 23 days, how could I possibly resist not having any dessert?  After all, it is the best part of the meal!  Right!?  As in any fine establishment, you can choose between having something light or something that’s a bit more decadent to satisfy your sweet tooth.  Here are a few after-dinner nightcaps that take the cake, or even replace it!

• If you’re one that enjoys the lighter side after dinner, full of healthy fresh fruits – then you can’t go wrong with the Dr. Konstantin Frank 2008 Bunch Select Late Harvest, Riesling from New York’s Finger Lakes (Sample, MSRP:  $69.99/375 ml).It oozes in sweet golden raisins, tangy pineapple and ultra-ripe apple flavors.  It’s pretty sensational, whether you want just a little or a whole lot!
• How about an elegant sweet wine from the western region of France?   If the sound of crème brûlée whets your appetite, then a Sauterne swimming in creamy vanilla, dried apricot, peach and pineapple just might be calling your name.  Mark, Mark, Mark…look over here.  Well look at that, it’s true – a 2005 Chateau Guiraud Sauterne ($69.99, half bottle) is calling for me right now! Gotta run!
• How about a unique treat that’ll have you sailing away to the Greek island of Santorini? A super rich and seductive Greek dessert wine, called Vinsanto, comprised of hard to pronounce Greek grapes like Assyrtiko and Aidani is truly something special that you don’t come across very often here in the US.  This rare Greek dessert wine is a product of extensively ripened grapes, sun-dried for fifteen days and barrel aged to give it deep essences of sweet honey, dry figs, caramel and nuts; providing a sweet warm sensation in the back of your throat.  It’s the nectar of the Gods, I tell you!
• Finally, if you envision a glass full of dark decadence, with a plate of fresh figs with mascarpone and warmed spiced honey, then you should try a classic, aged port wine.  Just the other night, my wife and I were in that dark hedonistic place with a delicious bottle of  Sandeman 10 Years Old Tawny Port (Portugal) (Sample, MSRP:  $30).It was oozing with caramel, coffee and nut flavors.  The caramel was like the burnt sugar coating on crème brûlée.  My wife, on the other hand, thought it tasted like one of her favorite cupcakes, French Toast!  This is a great entry into aged port wines @ $30.  I’d really love to see where this port will be in 20 or 30 years.  For now, it’s a crazy good way to close out a cold, late December evening.

When it comes to hitting the bull’s-eye in the wine world, you’ve got to have the precision of a marksman.  In the box wine segment, few can compete with Octavin’s locked and loaded lineup:  they’ve been hitting the mark time and time again.  I’ve had the pleasure of trying many of the Octavin wines, and recently sampled the company’s newest addition:  the 2009 Rudolf Müller Riesling, a.k.a. “The Bunny Wine,” from Germany.

The 2009 Rudolf Müller Riesling, produced from grapes grown in the Landwein Rhine region of Germany, showcases a refreshing peachy-apricot flavor with a hint of minerality on its soft, fruity finish. For what works out to be about $5.00 per 750ml, this slightly sweet Riesling should hit the mark with wine drinkers who prefer sweeter wines over traditional drier-style white wines.

3 Stars out of 4 for the 2009 Rudolf Müller ‘Medium Sweet’ Riesling.  For me, it was a tad too sweet to drink in the evening, but as a low-alcohol afternoon sipper, I’d spare Bugs and Daffy and happily pair it with a Caesar salad or curry chicken salad.

One of my favorite varietals in the whole world is Riesling.  Originating from the Rhine region of Germany, Rieslings cover a wide spectrum of styles from dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling; and it also blends quite well with other grapes.  It’s an aromatic grape varietal capable of showcasing a wonderful floral bouquet, while delivering just the right amount of an acidic charge – which is what makes this varietal so extra special in my mind.  It can be enjoyed equally as a sipping wine or as an accompaniment to a multi-course meal.  Finally, if you’re not one for oak in your white wine, in most cases, Rieslings are kept pure and oak-free.

If you’re already a fan of this versatile white wine, then you’re probably familiar with offerings from destinations like France, Germany, and from different parts of the US.  However, one place that you may not be aware of that is producing some truly spectacular, bright, lip-puckering and affordable Riesling is the Land of Oz.  As best-selling wine author Mark Oldman of Oldman’s Brave New World of Wine puts it:

 …their splendid Rieslings have been relegated to the shadows when they really deserve a throne of their own.

I’ll second that!!  If you haven’t had the opportunity to try one yet, two of the best Aussie regions to look for when shopping are the Clare and Eden Valleys in South Australia.  So now that I’ve beaten you down with my sermon and finished touting my penchant towards Riesling, I need to share an encounter that I had with an Australian Riesling.

Disclaimer: For some, you may not like this next part, but as Colonel Davy Crockett said, “…that don’t change the truth none.  There’s right and there’s wrong…”

Last night, I endured (not for long thankfully) one of the most devastating losses in quite some time; and sadly, I need to recommend a strong “Beware” on the 2006 Lindemans Bin 75 Riesling.

Lindemans is usually a very reliable Aussie producer, so how can that be?!

Let me start off by saying that Lindemans is one of the largest and premier names in Australian wine; and quite frankly, I’ve never had an awful experience with any of their selections over the years.  However, when I opened up the 2006 Lindemans Bin 75 Riesling, it felt as though I had been turned into a two-stroke engine getting filled with one part gasoline to one part oil.  Sadly, this Aussie Riesling had such an overwhelming and persistent petrol component to it that it was nearly impossible to consume.  To be fair, the rubber meets the road, or petrol factor, is something that can happen to Rieslings as they start to age and mature.  Interestingly enough, this unique profile is actually something that many Riesling collectors pay big bucks to experience.  I’ll pass…

1 star out of 4 for the 2006 Lindemans Bin 75 Riesling (Price:  $8 US).  Caveat emptor!

On the heels of my first ever “Germans are the Best” taste challenge.  I thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at how Germany actually classifies its white wines.

In Germany, a single wine estate will in most cases, make several different individual wines – mainly utilizing the native Riesling grape.  These wines can run the spectrum of being off-dry to tasting rich and very sweet.  For this reason, German wines are classified by law based upon the ripeness or “sweetness” level during a given harvest.  All German white wines can be broken down into three categories:

1.  Light and Off-Dry – These wines will have low alcohol content, be light in body with some degree of residual sugar to give it a clean and refreshing taste.
2. Dry and Full-Bodied – These wines produce higher alcohol content (somewhere between 11 and 13%), the body of the wine will begin to get heavier and the wine will also be more assertive and aromatic.
3.  Rich & Sweet – These German wines will display the highest alcohol content because the berries are left to wither on the vine to the point of becoming raisins.  These raisin–like berries are then individually selected and hand-picked to produce some of Germany’s finest dessert style wines.

Taking this ripeness level concept one step further, Germany designed a wine classification system which would further break down its white wines into specific categories of ripeness.

When shopping for a German white wine – which in most cases will be a Riesling wine, you’ll see one of these German wine terms listed below on the bottle label.  These terms are meant to be a road map to help guide you towards a German wine that will either be light and somewhat dry or to a wine that is super rich and sweet.  Here are the options you’ll encounter when considering the purchase of a German white wine:

• “Tafelwein” or Landwein” – This just means “German table wine”. 
• “QBA” – When a German label lists “QBA”, its telling you that this particular wine is a basic level “quality wine”.  It will possess a degree of sweetness, but look for this wine to be more on the drier and lighter side.  
• “QmP” – this German wine term literally means, “Quality wines with distinction”.  This classification is meant to tell shoppers that this German wine is of “superior quality”.  These superior quality wines are broken down into 6 “Prädikats” or wine classifications to provide consumers clues as to what style of wine a particular German wine might taste like.
  1. “Kabinett” When a German wine labels lists the word “ Kabinett”, it’s trying to tell you that this particular wine will be light bodied with some degree of residual sugar to give it a touch of sweetness.  “Kabinetts” are best drunk alone or with light seafood and shellfish.
  2. “Spatlese” When you see this term on a German wine label, it means that this particular wine may be either dry or sweet (Consult your wine retailer to ask if they’ve tried the “Spatlese” you’re considering to find out if its on the drier or sweeter side).  Good food choices for the sweeter ones are spicy dishes.
  3. “Auslese” This means that the grapes used to make these wines were very ripe and a fraction of them were almost “raisin-like” before they were hand-picked off of the vine.  Again, a German wine label that indicates “Auslese” may be either dry or sweet.  I would recommend talking to the wine clerk to ask if they’ve tasted the wine that you’re considering.  “Auslese” will however be a richer, more complex style of German white wine.
  4. “BA” or “Beerenauslese” This wine term is meant to tell you that the particular wine that you’re looking at is a rich, sweet, dessert-style of wine where there hand-picked berries (“Beeren”) were left on the vine until they achieved a rainsin like state.
  5. “TBA” or “Trockenbeerenauslese” This German wine term means “very rich and sweet”.  Just think of honey when you see this on a German wine label.
  6. “Eiswein” This German wine term literally means “Ice wine”. German Eiswein is a super sweet and rich dessert – style wine made from grapes that have been left on the vine until they have shriveled up like raisins.  These berries are hand-picked in the winter and pressed into wine while still frozen.  Many Eisweins will even tell you when they were harvested.  Look for “St. Nikolauswein” which means harvested on December 6^th or “Christwein” which means harvested on December 24^th or “Dreikonigswein” which means harvested on January 6^th.

As a final word of caution, all German white wines classified from “Table wine” to “Auslese” can be dry to bordering on sweet.  Try asking the wine clerk for assistance if you’re not sure whether or not the German white wine that you’re considering leans towards one or the other.

For more information about the German Prädikat System and other interesting stuff about the Riesling grape, visit the Riesling Rules website  and request a free copy of the Riesling Rules book.  This paperback book is chock full of terrific Riesling information and helpful information.