A Quick Guide to Riesling Wine
Australia is a huge global wine producer, with many world-renowned brands. We’re also a nation of wine lovers and we love to sample fine wines not just from our own backyard, but from fellow wine-producing nations around the world. In recent years, a growing number of wine enthusiasts have started exploring in earnest the channels to buy Riesling wine online.
Riesling has German heritage, and so hasn’t always shared the prestigious wine-producing spotlight of Europe as countries like France, Italy, and Spain have done. In fact, the Riesling name has even been negatively associated with German wine, evoking thoughts of a vapid, overly sweet white wine that’s nowhere near as fine as other European white wine you can find, not to mention our very own Chardonnays and other grapes here in Australia. You can try more native Australian foods at Kakadu Plum Co.
But Riesling, it seems, is also a very misunderstood wine. Despite the strange reputation, it has still managed to capture the hearts and minds of serious wine collectors around the world. It is also now produced in many locations outside the US, including here in Australia, as well as in the US. Let’s take a closer look at this intriguing German wine.
How Does Riesling Wine Taste?
Riesling wines are inherently quite acidic, and so they are mostly balanced with a sweeter taste with strong fruity overtones. At the less ripe end of the scale, the wines have a distinct taste of citrus, specifically lime and lemon. As they get riper, the flavours become richer, more like pineapple and apricot.
While the fruit flavours do tend to dominate, other aromas that make up the profile include jasmine, honeycomb, and even a natural substance called TDN that is reminiscent of petroleum wax.
Dry Vs. Sweet Riesling
Those who prefer a dry white wine should look for Riesling wines from Alsace. Australian producers of dry Riesling are mostly found in the Eden and Clare Valleys in South Australia. If you’re in the market for a sweeter Riesling, then Pradikat Riesling is one of the most popular and affordable bottles, and comes in several varieties.
Most of the world’s Riesling still comes from Germany, which should hardly surprise anyone since they’ve planted 56,000 acres of vineyard for Riesling, compared to just 10,300 acres here in Australia. The smallest producer by land area is New Zealand, with 1,830 acres in play, but those acres cover many more locations in that country.
How Best to Pair Riesling Wines
If you’re going to serve up some Riesling to your dinner guests, the good news is that it is one of the most versatile pairing wines. Feel free to cook pork, bacon, chicken or duck, not to mention flagship seafoods like shrimp and crab meat. All pair beautifully with a nice Riesling. Those who like to spice up their food with Cayenne pepper, allspice, turmeric, Sichuan pepper and other hot seasonings will also find that such bold additives won’t dampen the taste of the Riesling. If anything it will make it better.
For the less meat-oriented among you, favour vegetables with a natural sweetness to them, especially when roasted. For instance, red onions, bell peppers, squash, carrots and aubergine all work very well with the sweetness of Riesling. If you’re adding cheese into the meal, stick with more delicate flavours, steering clear of the stinkier European cheeses, and goat’s cheese.
Is Riesling Ever Blended?
There are some popular table wines out there that are bought mistakenly as pure Riesling, when they are actually blended with other grapes. Perhaps the best-known example is Liebfraumilch, which is a sweet table wine, which along with Hock, Piesporter Michelsberg, and others are more frequently used as bulk wines. They are very suitable for those who like to mix up a spritzer on a hot summer’s day, though!
