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Riesling - the most underrated white grape

Riesling is one of those grapes that splits people in two. Some consider it the noblest white grape in the world, others push the glass away because it reminds them of a cheap, sweet, bland supermarket wine. The truth is that Riesling is probably the most underrated of all white grapes, and its poor reputation rests largely on a misunderstanding. It can be bone dry or honey sweet, light or sturdy, young and crisp or aged for twenty years. Most importantly, no other white grape shows so faithfully where it comes from.

Acidity, the backbone of Riesling

The first thing to understand is acidity. Riesling has a lot of it, at a level close to lemonade, and it forms its backbone. High acidity gives an impression of freshness, tension and that characteristic watering along the sides of the tongue. It is also the reason Riesling ages so well: the acid acts as a natural preservative and lets the wine live for decades where other whites would long since have faded.

That same acidity explains why Riesling is perceived so differently. In a dry wine it comes through sharp and lemony. But when the winemaker leaves a little residual sugar, acid and sweetness begin to balance each other. A well-made sweeter Riesling does not taste like syrup, because the acidity cuts the sweetness and keeps the wine upright. It is a play of tensions, not just sweetness.

A grape that tastes of place

Riesling reflects terroir, the character of a specific place, more faithfully than almost any other white grape. It is a wine in which you can genuinely taste the soil it grew on. Planted on the slate typical of the Mosel valley, it gives notes of wet stone and smoky minerality. On limestone or clay the wine becomes rounder and fuller. The grape itself is transparent in this respect, like a pane of glass through which you can see the ground beneath.

That is why Riesling from the cool Mosel, where the wines are light, low in alcohol and floral, tastes completely different from one grown on a warmer Alsace slope or in Australia’s Clare Valley, where dry wines carry an intense lime note. The same grape, several different worlds. I cover what minerality in wine even means in minerality in wine.

Where the petrol note comes from

Anyone who has drunk a more mature Riesling will sooner or later meet a note described as petrol, kerosene, diesel or rubber. It sounds like a fault, yet it is one of the most distinctive signatures of this grape. It comes from a compound called TDN, or trimethyl-dihydronaphthalene. It forms when carotenoids in the grape skins break down under the influence of sun and time.

That is why the petrol note appears more often in Rieslings from warmer, sunnier vintages and in older wines that have had time to develop it. In small amounts it adds complexity and is welcomed by connoisseurs. In excess it can dominate. It is a good example of an aroma you have to learn, because at first it seems strange and over time becomes the hallmark of a good, ageing Riesling.

The German sweetness scale demystified

The biggest barrier for many people is the label of a German Riesling, which looks like a cipher. It is worth learning a few terms, because they tell you what to expect. First, the key point: the German Prädikat classification describes above all the ripeness of the grapes at harvest, not the final sweetness of the wine. From riper, sweeter grapes you can make either a dry or a sweet wine, depending on how much sugar the fermentation turns into alcohol.

• Trocken means dry, with almost no residual sugar. If you want a dry Riesling, look for this word.
• Halbtrocken and Feinherb are off-dry wines with a hint of sweetness, usually very balanced.
• Kabinett is the lightest ripeness level, giving delicate wines low in alcohol, around eight to ten percent, fresh and floral.
• Spätlese, or late harvest, uses grapes picked about two weeks later, fuller and riper, often with noticeable sweetness balanced by acid.
• Auslese uses selected, very ripe grapes, giving rich, honeyed, usually sweet wines.
• Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein are rare, luxurious dessert wines of dense, intense sweetness.

As you can see, most of these wines are nothing to fear. Riesling Trocken is one of the crispest, driest whites you can buy. There is more on how sweetness and acid build flavour in dry vs sweet wine, and I cover the general rules of reading a label in how to read a wine label.

A map of styles: from the Mosel to Australia

Riesling grows in many corners of the world and each region gives it a different accent. It is worth knowing a few classic addresses, because that is the fastest route to understanding how versatile this grape is.

• The Mosel in Germany is the home of light, low-alcohol Riesling with a floral-citrus profile and clear slate minerality. It often carries a touch of sweetness balanced by high acid.
• The Rheingau gives fuller, drier wines with more structure.
• Alsace in France is generally a dry, stronger Riesling with a citrusy, decisive character.
• Austria, especially the Wachau valley, is famous for dry, precise Rieslings of great concentration.
• Clare Valley and Eden Valley in Australia produce dry wines with an intense, almost biting lime note that develops beautifully with age.
• The Finger Lakes in New York State are a newer, cool-climate star, giving wines with a fresh, apple-driven profile.

Why Riesling is underrated

Riesling’s bad reputation has its roots in the years when the market was flooded with cheap, mass-produced sweet wines bearing its name. Many people tried such a version, decided that Riesling was a sweet, simple blur, and never returned to the subject. Yet it is one of the most highly regarded grapes among sommeliers, capable of producing wines of huge finesse that age longer than most reds.

The second reason is illegible labels and a fear of sweetness. Once you learn a few keywords, that barrier disappears. And the third is the fact that Riesling is rarely oaky or buttery, so people used to full, barrel-aged whites may at first find it too lean and acidic. That is a matter of palate calibration, not a fault in the wine.

Riesling is also superb at the table. Its acidity and touch of sweetness balance spicy, pungent and fatty dishes beautifully, which is why a dry or off-dry Riesling is one of the best wines for Asian food, pork or cheese.

How to explore it

The best way to understand Riesling is to set three glasses side by side: a dry Trocken from Alsace or Austria, a light Kabinett from the Mosel and one older vintage in which the petrol note has begun to appear. The difference will be striking, and along the way you will see how much the style depends on region and sweetness level. In GustoNote you note the acidity, sweetness, minerality and your impressions of each bottle, and after a dozen or so entries you will see clearly whether you prefer Riesling dry and tense or soft and fruity. It is the fastest way to stop fearing this grape and discover why so many experts consider it the king of white wines. You will find a full overview of types in types of wine.