Riesling at 585

Riesling’s Birthday (Photo: Wines of Germany)

Based on the discovery of a document that shows wine made from the riesling grape being sold on March 13, 1435, the Wines of Germany trade group has decided this must be the grape’s birthday. Count Katzenelnbogen (whose name is easier to pronounce after a couple glasses of wine) noted a riesling purchase in his cellar log on that date, so we know the grape was producing wine even earlier. A first mention is as good a reason as any to mark the geburtstag of what has turned out to be one of the greatest of all wine grapes, so let’s celebrate... But if it’s so great, how come more people don’t drink it?

Many of my colleagues in the wine trade consider riesling the greatest of all white wine grapes – sorry chardonnay, it’s no contest. As my winemaker friend Ed Sbragia once told me, “I make my cabernet sauvignon in the vineyard, but I make chardonnay in the winery.” He was referring to the basically neutral character of chardonnay and the fact that much of what we perceive as the grape’s flavor actually comes from how it’s handled by winemakers – whether or not they use barrels, where it’s grown (chardonnay can grow in a warm climate as easily as it does in a cool climate) and whether any (or all) of several winery practices are followed – lees stirring, malolactic conversion, oak aging (it’s a long list).

I’m not writing this to disparage chardonnay which makes some extraordinary wines (and even more ordinary wines, but that can be said of almost every grape). I’m here to celebrate riesling, and if today is its birthday, I’m sending the grape my heartfelt wishes for a long(er) and happy life. Riesling is a remarkable grape for many reasons. 

Take riesling’s versatility – more than any other grape, it can be successfully (and deliciously) made into wines ranging from bone-dry to nectar-like sweetness. It has a wonderful range of flavors and aromas, everything from white flowers and lime to stony minerality, honey, apricot and even petrol (yes, it can in some circumstances develop a kerosene-like aroma). Riesling is not happy in warm climates but thrives in moderate ton cooler climates like those found in Germany, Austria and Alsace. In Australia riesling is planted at higher altitudes to give it the important cooler temperatures it needs, and it responds producing very dry wines of wonderful minerality and searing acidity that can age for decades. I have had astonishingly fresh 40-year-old Aussie riesling and loved it. 

The famous Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyards on the banks of Germany’s Mosel River

With 45 percent of the world’s riesling vineyard area, it’s understandable that Germany is most identified with the grape, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. Germany’s reputation took a huge hit a few decades ago when a lot of off-dry and medium-sweet wine of low quality hit the market. Never mind that most of those wines contained little or no riesling – because Germany is so identified with this single grape, riesling unfairly but decidedly took the hit. Unfortunately, the country never recovered its lofty image and more than 40 years later still depends on apologists like me to make the case both for riesling as a whole, and Germany in particular.

I do love many off-dry rieslings from Germany but am just as passionate about the nearly always dry rieslings from Alsace. In Germany I especially appreciate the elegant, floral wines of the Mosel, but I have a special place in my heart for wines of the Rhine valley. The first quality wine I ever purchased was for a dinner I cooked for my university advisor, a wonderful professor who had traveled widely. I realized that while I could cook the food, he would expect wine and I knew nothing about it. A wine shop owner took pity on me, and not only overlooked the fact I was underage but offered some great advice. She said it was perfectly fine to serve two wines with dinner (I had no idea!) and suggested for my Basque-style chicken with almonds, tomato and peppers that a nice wine match would be from Germany because the wines were so versatile. I didn’t know what that meant at the time, but to this day I remember the wine – Niersteiner Goldene Luft, a lovely riesling kabinett that did indeed make a wonderful match and inspired what has turned out to be a life-long love affair with this magical grape.

Riesling falls into a category I call “low risk wines.” Because it’s generally low in alcohol, often off-dry and almost always fruity, it goes with an astonishing number of foods, including the hard-to match categories of foods with chili heat and with umami, two types of food that are notoriously difficult to pair with wine because they increase the perception of tannin and alcohol. This makes a good, off-dry riesling an ideal match for Indian, Thai or Szechuan cooking where chili heat can sometimes play a dominant role. And, interestingly the opposite approach holds just as true: with no tannin in the wine (riesling is almost never oak-aged), it goes wonderfully well with “naked” foods like sushi and sashimi.

The next time you are at a restaurant with a group of friends and everyone orders something different, suggest a riesling – it goes with so well with so many things it could be the surprise hit of the night. In fact, tonight I’m making sesame-crusted seared tuna with a light soy, ginger and lime jus on the side and I have just the wine to pair with it – birthday riesling!