---How my love of history made me drink a white wine

I love Riesling, because the epic story of this ancient and dynamic wine is enough to keep any happy hour conversation going on for hours.

No other beverage is as intertwined with the story of humanity than wine - and Riesling is no exception. This is probably because no other fruit known to man manifests in so many different forms, flavors, fragrances, and sensations. Just like people, the wine grape vitis vinifera has thousands of varieties, of which almost all are useless, save a few dozen - these have become the world-famous celebrity grape varietals we all know and love.
Riesling is one of these chosen few, but Riesling is special.

Noble Wine
If wine grapes are a noble family ruling amongst a kingdom of grape berry peasants, Riesling is a Lord ruling over an important house in that kingdom of wine. As it is with people, Lords must be born into such nobility - at least partially.

Riesling, although not purely aristocratic in ancestry, was born from a noble descendant of a grape named Savignin Blanc (not to be confused with Sauvignon Blanc) and Gouais Blanc, an esoteric tribal-leader-style-grape from Gaul (Modern France).

It is believed that Gouais Blanc was commonly used by ancient Celtic tribes for winemaking, but it is known for sure (thank you genetics) that is it the grandmother of the world famous grapes Chardonnay, Petit Verdot, Chenin Blanc, Muscadelle and, yep you guessed it… Riesling.

Savignin Blanc, AKA Traminer, is an ancient noble Germanic grape that parented the well-known Gewürztraminer, which is of course that gregarious German cousin to Riesling. The direct parent of Riesling on the Germanic side was a child resulting from Traminer's honey-bee-facilitated trysts with wild vines - those not of noble blood. The result was a hybrid grape… or as we call it in the human kingdom, a bastard.

It was this bastard that had grapevine sex with the mighty Gouais Blanc of the Celts, and thus it was so, that Riesling was born.

Riesling - a child of tribal nobility and Germanic royalty that came to dominate many lands across the worldwide wine kingdom.

Today, Riesling is grown in Germany, Luxembourg, Alsace France, Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, and Canada. In the United States, Riesling is mostly grown in California, however, it is also found in Oregon, Washington State, Upstate New York, and Michigan. While not overly common in popular culture, Riesling is widely grown and utilized, mainly because it can make a wide array of wines - from sweet dessert wines to highly aromatic and bone dry dinner wines. While the common perception of Riesling is that of sweet wine, it is, in fact, one of the most elegant and versatile grapes in the world!
Riesling is highly aromatic, displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas, and is almost always marked with notable acidity. One of the hallmark qualities of Riesling is the smell of petroleum, or sometimes described as kerosene, lubricant, rubber, or (don't laugh thirteen year-olds) Vaseline.
If that makes your head tilt, don't worry, I've been there.

The smell is best described as taking a whiff from an open jar of Vaseline, before the teenage boy got his hands on it. If the idea of drinking a wine that smells like petroleum doesn't appeal to you, don't knock it until you try it. There is something delectable about the nose being keenly aware of deep earthy notes of petrol, while at the same time experiencing honey, ginger and citrus blossom. Riesling seduces the palate with flavors of lime, Meyer lemon, peach, and apricot while delivering a high degree of minerality.
It may be surprising to hear, but a Riesling wine with more pronounced petrol notes and flavors is considered to be a higher quality wine.
In fine wine discussions, this is often referred to as "diesel," which is indicative of grapes with high sun exposure, water stress (which is a very good thing for wine), high acid content, a low yield, or from a late harvest, which are all excellent for wine growers.

Mosel - Image by Peter H from PixabayRiesling is usually included in the top three white wine varieties along with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, and is known to be highly terroir expressive, meaning that Riesling wine is greatly influenced by the wine grapes place of origin - this means that Riesling wines can vary significantly from region to region, and even vineyard to vineyard.

By far the most renowned and expensive Riesling wines are the late harvest dessert wines that are the result of letting Riesling grapes hang on the vines well past normal picking time. With late harvest, Botrytis Cinerea (also called grey mold, the same seen on strawberries, raspberries, etc…) begins to live on the grapes and remove water from the berry (grape) by causing evaporation. But wine grapes have thick skin, so they can live with Borytis longer than your average berry, allowing the little mushrooms to work their magic. At just the right time, experienced winemakers pick all the grape berries and crush them into wine. An alternative process to mimic this effect, but not use a fungus, is to freeze the grapes - this is how we get the famous Ice Wine, or in German, Eiswein.

Late Harvest Rieslings tend to be very concentrated and have more sugar, acid and flavor complexity. All these qualities are highly desirable, so much so that the fungus that grows on the grapes has been affectionately named "Noble Rot," as the result is so delicious, and fit for a Lord.
No matter which version of it you have in your glass, Riesling is elegant and timeless. A wine monogamist could easily commit themselves to Riesling, and yet find excellent pairings with fish, bacon, seafood, delicate cheese, dried fruit, roasted vegetables, coconut, and spicy food. Yes, spicy food. So often wines and spicy cuisines do not match, however, the semi-sweet to sweet Riesling wines do well to neutralize the heat, while enhancing the flavors of a variety of spicier cuisines including Thai, Indian, Chinese and Vietnamese.

In other word, if you are married to Riesling, no need for an open relationship.

So how do you know if a Riesling is dry and crisp, or sweet, or ready for a Thai restaurant?

The labels tell you.

But just like most of the labels in world of wine, they are in a different language - no worries, below are the basics on how to navigate Riesling wines:

Trocken wine is dry (not sweet).
Kabinett and Spätlese are sweet wines from Germany.
Rieslings from Alsace are usually dry and are excellent for trying instead of Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.
Rieslings are best served at around 42–45 ºF, or 6 ºC.
Mosel wines are popular and are usually quite good, and typically have some sweet factor to them.
Riesling is almost never blended with any other grape.
Late Harvest will be better but more expensive.
Do not drink Piesporter.

These eight guidelines are the most important things to remember when attempting to navigate the world of Riesling. I strongly recommend experimenting with this dynamic and ancient Lord of Western European wine.

The Blunt Ogre, September 21, 2021