Reading through my posts, you can probably tell that I’m a Riesling junkie. Sure, the high acids can be lip-puckering and stomach-burning at first encounter, but when you live in a Riesling-centric wine region, you keep taking the hit. You know there is something fantastic in that glass of sassy freshness yet to be fully perceived or appreciated. Maybe it’s the crisp, bold flavour, low alcohol, and ethereal food pairing attributes that keeps pulling you in for another sip? It doesn’t take long until you begin to understand that Riesling goes great with everything. It even has the power to make the most loathsome moments endurable. Getting through the second week of dark, depressing January – there’s a Riesling for that. Sitting though Transformers: Age of Extinction your boyfriend made you go see – there’s a Riesling for that too. Hell, Riesling is so magical that it has the power to do all those things now or in decades time due to its exceptional aging potential. It’s truly a wine for all times and all occasions.
What’s more is that there are so many Rieslings from so many wineries in Germany (not to mention Alsace, Austria, Canada and the US) to choose from! After time you start to shy away from the sweeter “feinherb” Rieslings in favour of the dry “trocken” style. One day you wake up and realize you are, quite simply, addicted. Can you imagine a life without Riesling? What horror! You could try all the Albarinos, Sauvingon Blancs, Chardonnays, whatever you want, in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to fill that Riesling void. Because in the end, as Sinead O’Connor sang “nothing compares to you”, my dear, under appreciated Riesling. Gosh darn people, even Jancis Robinson proclaims Riesling to be the greatest white wine grape in the world! Get with the program!
Speaking of Riesling and Jancis Robinson – a few months ago at the VDP Mainz Weinboerse (the Wine Trade Fair in Germany for top quality German wine), Jancis was honoured with the illustrious Golden Needle of Honour for her long-term personal commitment to strengthening the international image of German wine. Not only did I manage to catch a glimpse of her at this event, but I tasted enough excellent Rieslings to get a real good fix. Seriously, this is the place to be for a Riesling junkie.
So come one, come all to the House of Riesling. It’s like a really great secret neighbourhood clubhouse that should effectively be the most popular and biggest unkept secret of the wine world. Now go get yourself a bottle already!
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