Normally when we think of Rieslings from the Mosel, our first thoughts are of the low ABV, often semi-sweet wines that are, well, lovely.
But it is also not a safe assumption to think that all Mosel wines are sweet. Some, like Keonard Kreusch's Mosel Riesling, may be dry or, in this case, have just a little perceptible residual sugar to push it into the off-dry territory.
We can really get into a bottle like this one!
Dr. Burklin-Wolf is a premier wine producer in the Pfalz region with a stellar portfolio of wines with a strong lean to Riesling (naturally)!
Our exposure to wines from Pfalz has historically been limited, and we were excited to try a sample of the Riesling Trocken courtesy of Wines of Germany for review.
Although this one had a bit lighter flavor intensity on the palate, it hit all the right notes for a beautiful, dry Riesling from Germany!
When we think of producers of high-quality Rieslings, our minds often go to cool climates like the Mosel in Germany or the Finger Lakes in Upstate New York.
But just because some cooler climate regions are famous for their Riesling doesn't mean this grape can't grow in warmer spots. On the contrary, it thrives all over! California-based Arista, known for some stellar Pinot Noir, has one Riesling from the Anderson Valley that we were hesitant about but fell in love with after the first sip.
If you prefer your Riesling ripe and with a robust intensity, this one is for you.
Whenever we visit Finger Lakes wineries, we always make a trip over to Keuka Lake despite arranging our trips to often be Seneca Lake heavy.
One obligatory stop for us is the aptly named Keuka Lake Vineyards for its gorgeous views and even better wine.
After letting their Riesling Evergreen Lek age in our cellar for a few years, we popped it open to discover a rather delicious wine with notable petrol and tropical character!
We always have a soft spot to try orange wines as they typically offer a unique flavor profile that is a bit unlike anything else you can find. Throw in the fact that they can often be made of grapes (or blends of grapes) that are a bit more unusual to see and in some cases even fermented naturally, there really is a lot to love.
Smallfry's Tangerine Dream is one such bottle as it is a skin contacted white wine from the Barossa Valley of Australia made with Semillon, Pedro Ximenez, Riesling, Rousillon, and Muscat and offered some delightful flavors.
Normally when we think of wine aged in a solera system, our minds go to the fortified wine Sherry. But some still wine is also aged in solera style, with Johannes Zillinger “JZ” Revolution White Solera from Austria being one such bottle.
This blend of Riesling, Chardonnay, and Scheurebe came with an intensity that we honestly did not quite expect!
Whenever we visit Boundary Breaks, one of our favorite Finger Lakes wineries, we always love to see what new bottle of Riesling they have available.
In a recent trip, we stumbled upon their #356 Dry Bubbly bottle which was made via CO2 injection of an otherwise still wine (so not via the Champagne method like we're used to drinking).
It was a hit for us, we bought a bottle to enjoy at home, and popped it open for this review!
What we are about to say should have no ambiguity- if you are a Riesling lover you'll want to make your way to Hermann J Wiemer. This Finger Lakes winery is truly one of the best in the area, especially for this delicious white grape, and blows us away time and time again with every bottle that we open.
Naturally, we stop every time we are in the area, and our shopping haul from here is among our largest purchases every trip as well.
So when we opened the Hermann J Wiemer Magdalena Vineyard Riesling, we were excited to see what it was like after spending a bit of time in our cellar and it certainly did not disappoint.
While many tend to think that an Auslese Riesling is sweeter than other styles, this is not always the case. Auslese directly translates to ‘selected harvest' which is often done late in the season when the grapes have a high concentration of sugars in them (in fact, the sugar content of the grape is how the categorization works outright).
But sugar in the grapes does not necessarily translate to sugar in the glass. Some producers may ferment the sugar out while others (in our experience, the vast majority of others) may stop fermentation early to leave some residual sugar in place for you to enjoy in your glass.
Dr. H. Thanisch's Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Auslese is in the latter category and offers up both a sweet and complex German Riesling that we cannot get enough of.
We first heard about the wine classification trockenbeerenauslese in our WSET Level 2 class. We knew bottles of this dessert wine tend to be somewhat rare, so we were fairly surprised to find a bottle in a liquor store near us just a few weeks later.
So, what is it, exactly?
Trockenbeerenauslese in German translates to “dry berry selection” and is made from individually picked grapes that have been dried on the vine due to noble rot. In most cases having a fungus grow on your grapes is not a good thing, but proper growth of botrytis cinerea causes grapes to dry out which concentrates the sugars and allows for the production of some supremely wonderful, and sweet, dessert wines.
Hopler's Trockenbeerenauselese was just that.
