Types of Wine Grapes: Riesling

Ep 38

My grape deep dive is back and this time it’s all about the misunderstood Riesling grape!

You may already be thinking: I don’t like Riesling! Either because you think it’s too sweet or it’s too acidic. But here’s where Riesling’s unique characteristics shine…this grape can do both! It can be sweet or acidic and it’s all dependent on where it’s grown and how the winemaker chooses to make the wine!

Today, we are going to take a deep dive into Riesling and dispel the myths of this grape. I’ll share the incredible diversity of this noble and distinctive white grape because it can produce wines across a wide spectrum of sweetness levels from bone dry to lusciously sweet.

And by now you know that I love history, so I’ll dive into the fascinating history of Riesling and its German origins. We’ll also discover how the Blue Nun had a less than positive effect on people’s view of Riesling.

I can’t wait to share the complex aromatics that set Riesling apart from other grapes. Think petrol (oh yes, gasoline), mineral notes, vibrant fruit aromas. You’ll also learn how adaptable and resilient Riesling is when it comes to the climates it’s grown in.

Are you ready to dive into this versatile Riesling grape? If so press play and listen in! And if this episode has inspired you to try Riesling I’d love for you to head over to Instagram and let me know what you think!

Episode Highlights:

• Versatility of Riesling grapes from sweet to acidic
• What is special about Riesling wine?
• What are the characteristics of Riesling wine?
• History of Riesling grapes and it’s German origin
• The curse of the Blue Nun and its impact on Riesling
• The aging potential of Riesling
• Understanding Riesling’s sweetness levels
• Answering the question: is Riesling dry or sweet?
• Is Riesling dry or fruity?
• Unique aromas of Riesling (think petrol)
• Highlighting top regions for Riesling production

Transcript

0:24

Recording episode 38 of the Cork and Phys Guide to Win podcast. I have another installment in my grape deep dive miniseries for you today. We are going to talk about Riesling. I have wanted to do an episode all about Riesling for a while, so I'm very excited to finally be able to bring this to you. I've found that it's a very misunderstood grape. And what's interesting is I think it's somehow misunderstood on, like, both ends of the spectrum. So when I say Riesling, Some of you might think, no, thank you. I don't like sweet wine. You think the riesling is always sweet. And then on the other end, I have a feeling that some of you might think, no. Thank you. I don't like the overly acidic wines. Like, you think Riesling is always acidic. And here's the thing. Riesling can do both. And it's not your fault that you think this either. Like, that's obviously, like, marketing at play and lots of things going on that would have, you know, the general public believing these things. So you're here listening to this so I can tell you about how that is so not true. Riesling is also considered to be, like, by many, one of, if not the most noble and distinctive white grape varieties in the world. So, stick around and find out why you might want to give Riesling another chance. Now, before we get into it, I want to share just a Quick reminder, if you are not on my mailing list yet, I would love for you to join. When you do, you'll get a free shopping guide that has of my favorite wines under $15. Simply head to corkandfizz.com, scroll down to the bottom, and there'll be a little section where you can join the mailing list. I send out a weekly newsletter. It's filled with wine tips, recommendations, special offers, learnings, kind of deep dives into things, and so much more. And, of course, be sure to check out my virtual tasting club, The Core Crew. It's your opportunity to taste wine with me from the comfort of your own home. So if you're listening to this podcast and you're like, I wanna taste wine with Hailey. I mean, how why would you not? I wanna taste wine with you. So come join the court crew, and we can do that together. We get together twice a month, once to try new wines. Well, both of them were trying new wines, but one, it's specifically to learn about 2 new styles of wine. We'll kind of dive deep into the region where they're from and learn about the grapes. It's super cool and to get to do that little comparison tasting. And then one of the tastings or one of the events is to learn from others in the wine world. So I bring people in, like, winemakers, Sommeliers, authors, all to teach us about wine from their experience, and it it's just so cool. Everyone has so much to So if you wanna give this a try without the commitment, you're in luck. Right now, I'm offering what I call a class pass for free to anybody who wants to try out the court crew. With this pass, you will be able to join a court crew event of your choosing. No strings attached. I don't need your credit card. I don't I need you to sign up for a membership. I just need your email and you will be my guest. So simply head to quarkandphys.com/free class pass to get your free class pass. Alright. Now we're gonna dive in to learn all about Riesling, and be sure too to to message me on Instagram, send me an email to let me know what other varietals I should cover next after we talk about Riesling. Alright. If this is not your 1st episode, you know I love geeking out over wine history, so we're gonna start with the history of riesling. Riesling originated in the Rheingau region of Germany, likely the offspring of a grape called guaj blanc. This is not a grape that's really made into wine anymore these days, but it is very well known for its genes. It is in the ancestry of most of the wines we drink, and it is also the parent of Chardonnay. So that kind of tells you that Riesling and Chardonnay have a some form of relationship, likely a sibling relationship. The earliest recorded reference to Riesling is dated back to March 13th 14/35. And this is the earliest, like, recorded reference, so you know it was around before then. This was in the storage inventory of count John the 4th of Katselenbolgen in the Hushburstsch region. I I also don't speak German if that's not obvious. The spelling was different. It looked like Rieslingen, in many other documents at that time. The modern spelling wouldn't be seen until around 15/52. Germany is the top producer of riesling in the world, producing something like 44% or so of the world's riesling. And for some of that, we have the elector and archbishop of Trier, which is Germany's oldest city, to Partially thanks for this as he decreed back in 17/87 that in order to improve quality of German wines, all, quote, unquote, bad vines had to be replaced by Riesling vines within 7 years. So this ended up making so Trier was in the region of Moselle. And the Moselle region of Germany is now one of the best probably spots to get riesling in the world, and this is how that area got so much riesling. Now, recently, it's such a historic and noble grape, but the question is, why does it seem to have such, like, a negative or bad reputation, especially here in the US. I think this has been changing over time, but I think it's still around a little bit. So let's talk about it. We'll have to look into more modern history to understand this. So many call it the curse of the blue nun. So war, Hyperinflation and more war forced winemakers to come up with new ways to market their wines and especially their rieslings, and this is Talking specifically about wines from Germany. Again, this is where a lot of riesling comes from, so I think we tend to associate riesling with German riesling, so this is what we're gonna talk about. So with war, the hyperinflation, more war. Right? Both world wars really devastated Germany. And so in order to sell their wines, Winemakers needed to have a bigger focus on branding, and the 1st and most successful of these wines that did such a great job with their branding was The Blue Nun. They had a well funded advertising campaign that promoted the wine as one that you could drink right through your meal, so You never have to worry about being embarrassed about ordering the wrong wine while you are out having dinner with, like, your boss or your father-in-law. Like, Just get a blue nun, it goes with everything. This wine became so popular that it sold for the same price as a second Sorry. This wine became so popular that it sold for the same price as a second growth Bordeaux, which basically just means think A very very nice Bordeaux, back in 1950. And by the 19 eighties, the company was exporting nearly 2,000,000 cases a year. Now there was nothing, like, inherently wrong with the blue nun wine, but the problem is that it was Fruity, uncomplicated. It was simple. It was just like a a quaffable, like, you know, porch pounder one might call it today style of wine, And people began associating that style of wine with German riesling. So now in your head, you think German riesling equals just like simple, boring, slightly sweet, very fruity wine. But times are changing, and as riesling is expanding to more and more regions. You're having more and more winemakers experimenting with different styles and truly discovering what Riesling can do. So I think public opinion is starting to change on this as well. Alright. Let's dive into a little bit more about the grape in the wine. I'm gonna cover a lot of stuff in here. Recently, it's just so cool. There's so many fun, unique things about it, and I can go on and on, but I'll try to keep it to the point. And then we're gonna finish the podcast by talking about some of the best regions, in the world to find Riesling and hopefully help you, look for some good bottles. So First off, talking about the grape, it is incredibly cold hardy, so it can withstand cooler temperatures. It is one of the few, European grapes that can do that really well, and this is thanks to the hardiness of its wood and stems. It also buds late, so it tends to avoid a spring frost. So by budding late, I mean so over the winter, a grapevine is essentially dormant. If you've ever gone by a vineyard in the winter, you know it Kinda looks like they're dead. Also similar to, like, kind of a fig tree in my backyard. And I remember when my husband and I first moved in, we moved in in February, and I was like, we have a dead tree in the backyard. Like, it it it took until, like, May for it to do anything. It just did not look good. So anyway, Grapevines, dormant in the wintertime, look almost dead. They're just they're just chilling. They're hibernating. Okay? They're like the bears. Now one of the first signs of life is that come spring, the buds begin to break. And these buds are extremely delicate, And frost or bad weather like hailstorms can completely destroy them, and no buds equals no grapes. So the fact that riesling buds later in the year, you don't have to worry about, you know, any like cool snaps in spring. Normally they bud after any of those would happen. The grape, of riesling produces wines that are highly aromatic. So even at cooler temperatures when aromas are often muted, you can often get aromas from Riesling just by pouring it into a glass. Now I'll dive into specific aromas once we talk about different regions because the thing is there isn't really 1 single flavor profile for riesling. It's very dependent on its terroir, which basically means if you remember, terroir is since a place, which is another way of saying, like, it depends on where it's grown. However, while we're talking about aromas and riesling, I do want to talk about a fairly unique one that can can come up. I'm gonna say that again. However, while talking about aromas in Riesling, I do wanna talk about a fairly unique one that can come up, and that's Petrol or not as nicely sounding, gasoline. So if you were, one of those slightly odd kids like me, and even admittedly now, who loved the aroma of gasoline. You'll really love this aroma in your wine. Though for some, they'll see this as a flaw. So don't worry. There isn't actually gasoline in your wine. The aroma comes from a compound called EDN or the long version, I'm gonna give one try at this, is 116 trimethyl 12 The hydronoflavin. It was going so well until that part. TDN. Just remember TDN. It comes from a compound called TDN. Some studies have shown that this molecule is up to 6 times more likely to occur in riesling than in other varieties. Lots of things can contribute to this forming, But one is that it is widely, but one that is widely agreed upon is sun exposure. More sun leads to more TDN. Oddly enough, the enclosure on the bottle could also make a difference. So cork can absorb as much as, like, 50% of TDN in the wine, meaning you might notice more TDN if you have a screw cap bottle, which is somewhat common with a riesling. Many winemakers also say that the aroma develops as the wine ages, though some would argue it just kind of it's similar to gasoline, but it's not actually coming from TDN. It's other aromas that develop. So, anyway, next time you smell a nice high quality riesling, see if you get any petrol or gasoline aroma. And now you'll understand where it's coming from, and you don't have to worry. It's not actually a flaw or gasoline in your wine. Now another thing we need to talk about when we talk about Riesling is what I talked about, when we started this podcast asked is that many people think Rieslings are only a sweet wine, but that's not true. Rieslings can actually produce wines in a whole range of sweetness levels, So from super sweet to bone dry, and remember in the wine world, a dry wine simply means a wine that is not sweet. And the thing is it just depends on the acidity and sugar levels in the wine. So as long as the acidity level of a riesling is higher than the sweetness level, the wine will not taste sweet to you. Once the sweetness level is higher, Well, then you have a sweet wine. And the way I like to explain this is I think about, like, a glass of lemonade or at least, like, making lemonade. So let's say you start with just a glass of lemon juice. If you took a sip of that, it would result in a very, very Thick and tart flavor. Okay? That is your, like, super bone dry a little more intense. Right? Like, Bone dry riesling does not taste like lemon juice. It is much more pleasant than that, but you get the idea. Right? So lemon juice is, like, no sugar, lots of acidity. Now you add a pinch of sugar. It's still going to taste acidic even if you added sugar, but it's not quite so tart, but it's certainly not sweet. You add another pinch of sugar. Okay. We still don't quite taste the sweetness, but the acidity is dying down a little bit. There's a little more balance. Now you add a full spoonful of sugar or maybe 2 or 3, and this is the point where sweetness has overpowered the acidity, And you're left with a sweet lemonade that doesn't have as much of that that has probably very little of that acidity and tartness that you got when you just sipped on the lemon juice. So some rieslings that seem dry actually have some sugar in them. Now, we'd still call them dry because they taste dry, But they actually might have some sugar in them purely for balance so the wine is not overly tart. But you'd never really know by tasting it, so it's always good to ask questions, especially if you're tasting at the tasting room and you're having a riesling, ask them if they balance it out with any, what we call, residual sugar in the wine world, and that's just sugar that's left over after fermentation are left in the bottle for you to taste. Now the question becomes now, how am I supposed to know if a riesling is dry or sweet? Many riesling producers have taken to either labeling the wine dry or sweet just because they want people to know or they have a scale on the back of the bottle to show where the wine falls on the dry to sweet scale. Another tip is to look at the alcohol level. So every bottle of wine has to have their ABV, the alcohol by volume, or it'll say ALC, just alcohol percentage. Anything that is above 12% is most likely a dry wine. Anything under 12% and especially under 10%, The wine is most likely sweet. Germany also has a classification system that includes sweetness. Now there's a lot more to this, and I'm not gonna go into it because we could be in we could be talking about for way too long. But some words to, to look out for or on a German riesling bottle that will give tell you if the wine is dry or sweet. You're looking for trocken. This is t r o c k e n. That is dry. Haubltrucken. This is half dry. So this is a wine that, does have some sweetness but not a whole lot. We might call it off dry in the wine world. There's mild, also called the lieblich. This is l I e b l I c h. This is some sweetness, so it's a little more than the half dry, but not completely sweet. And then you have suss, s u s s, and that is sweet. So trocken, dry. Halb trocken, half dry or off dry. Mild, Also off dry, but a little more sweet than dry, and is sweet. Hopefully, that helps a little bit in getting an idea of what kind of riesling you are buying. Now rieslings are also one of the few white wines that can age really well. It honestly can age some of them. Some of the best ones can age just as well as top Bordeaux reds. This is due to their high acidity which acts as a preservative, and if you have a sweet riesling which has both high acidity and high sugar, That sugar also acts as a preservative, so it helps the wine last longer. Now last thing before we go into some of the popular regions for riesling, You might notice that riesling is one of the few grapes out there that is very rarely blended, and the thing is it's just too good on its own. Now, sometimes winemakers might add a little riesling into other wines to help bring out some acidity, But they don't often add anything to riesling simply because it doesn't need fixing. It was really interesting. Last night in my tasting club, we were talking to some winemakers out of Colorado. You heard them on the podcast, I think, just before this one. It was Jamie and Steve out of the storm cellar, and they were talking about how well, yeah, our riesling that we bottle is always a 100% riesling. But the thing is we sometimes add riesling into other wines when we notice they need a little, you know, brightness, a little acidic kick, and They need something you know, there may be a a little flat and adding just a little bit of riesling. It's like that, like, secret ingredient that no. It's not a secret because they told us about it, but you know what I mean. Like, It's that little thing that can just really make a wine shine, which is so so cool. Alright. Let's dig into some of the popular regions for riesling around the world. The top region for riesling, of course, is Germany. I've already said this once, but we could do a whole podcast on German Riesling, and I probably will someday. So we're gonna keep this short and to the point. Every region in Germany makes riesling, but the top regions are Moselle. Moselle is the most famous and many would argue the best producer of riesling in the world. It's Germany's coolest wine region. They can only this great so remember, riesling does need to ripen, but it does like cooler areas. So the grape itself can only be ripened on the best sites with the perfect slope. They need it to be angled just right to catch the maximum sunlight. These wines will typically have lower alcohol with extremely high acidity and this really kind of delicate, fruity sweetness. I'm gonna redo that last line just a little bit. Wines from this region or rieslings from this region are typically low alcohol, extremely high acidity, and they have a lot of that minerality note. So think like, the smell of The rocks when you're walking by a waterfall or the smell of the pavement after it's just rain, it's just very rocky. But they will also have some kind of fruit elements like lime, green apple, but more of like a white peach instead of a very fruity peach. It's a little lighter on the fruit side. Then you have the Rangau. Again, this is where we said the, riesling was originated. These produce a relatively they have a a light honey characteristic. They have a light honey character to them and a little bit of a floral node as well. Think like orange blossom. There's the region of Then you have the region of Nahe, which is n a h e. I did look up how to say that, and that's the best I could find. These rieslings are nervier, which like, you're like, what the hell does that mean? How you think of it is, like, a very straight line, like, very acidic, one noted, not in a bad way, almost like like lightning. Like, it just has that very powerful acidity to it, but they can also have really, like, luscious fruit components to go with that. So you might get a little more pineapple, a little riper peach, a little more tart lime. Then you have the fault. This region, which is actually P f a l z, false. They typically they're actually tied with the Moselle for a number of vineyards or basically tied. It's exactly the same, but very similar. Full fatter, like, honeyed, quite full bodied rieslings. And then you have the region of kind of that porch pounder, quaffable style, of riesling. Now other regions in Germany do produce riesling, but these are gonna be your top. So look for Moselle is, like, kind of the place to start and see what you think. Then there's Rangel, Nye, Pfalz, and Wartenberg. Now, of course, outside of Germany, Riesling has traveled quite a bit. The next region we're gonna talk about Austria. So while Riesling might be overshadowed by overshadowed by their local Gruner Weltliner group, which is also amazing, I definitely think riesling deserves some attention in this region. You'll find riesling in the regions of Wienwertel, Wachau, Kamtel, Bergenland, and Kremstel? These wines tend to be more fuller bodied than German rieslings and a little spicier, so you might get some white pepper notes. They're all typically on south facing slopes. Again, we want that sunlight, so anytime the slopes are facing the equator, that's Great for these grapes that need to ripen, and, honestly, they're pretty reliably high quality. So if you want to get a good riesling and you want to rely that it's going to be High quality, look for an Austrian one. It's gonna be good. Alright. And, of course, we gotta talk about the United States. We grow a lot of riesling here. And while you might find Some well, you will find some riesling in California. The most exciting spots for riesling on the West Coast are actually Oregon and Washington. Washington in particular has made a name for itself with riesling. Chateau Ste. Michelle is the leading producer of riesling in the US. They have proven that Washington can make amazing recently, and they've even garnered the attention of a well known winemaker from the Moselle in Germany, Ernie Lusin. Lusin partnered with Chateau Ste. Michelle to create the hugely successful Eroica Riesling, and this just Really put Washington on the map, and if you're gonna find a Washington wine outside of the state of Washington, chances are it's going to be a Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling, and you should try it. They are really, really wonderful, and they make them in a range of styles from sweet to dry. Now if we're talking riesling in the US, we also have to talk about the East Coast AKA the Finger Lakes in New York. They just make really incredible rieslings across all sweetness levels. You have a lot of German producers that have actually moved into New York, and started having a focus there. And they really had a heavier focus on dry riesling over time. You will also see riesling and other areas on the East Coast, namely, I'm thinking of Virginia as well. And, of course, I have to give a shout out to a new and exciting region for Riesling in the US, And that's Colorado. So if you remember us talking to Jamie and Steve of the storm seller out in the West Elks AVA, riesling is one of the grapes that they can grow out there in that cold desert climate, and it produces this really lovely riesling. Again, it's got that white peach note that the Moselle is known for, but also this minerality. And I remember I poured it in my glass. I just had the tasting last night with the court crew and the winemakers, and I poured it in the glass. And I was sitting 3 feet from it, And I could smell the riesling. It was really, really wonderful. Alright. A surprising region for riesling, Australia. So Australia whoops. So while riesling might for a cooler climate, it can actually do well in warmer regions such as Australia as long as the temperatures drop at night, and this is what we call a diurnal temperature. So this is where the nighttime temperatures are significantly different than daytime, as much as, like, 40 degrees Fahrenheit. And this is actually why Riesling can do really well in Washington State too. Eastern Washington does have a pretty desert like climate that can get really hot during the day, but it drops at night. So, basically, the vines will go dormant If the temperature gets too high, this we're talking, like, higher than 90 degrees, and then they reawaken at night. Now if they don't get too hot, the other nice thing is that the cooler temps trap and lock in the acidity while the sun ripens their fruit. So we're letting the develop some sugar while also keeping in some acidity to prevent our wine from going flabby. So some of the top regions in include the Clare and Eden valleys along with Barossa Valley. Now the grapes can get quite ripe here with the warmer temps the wine makers in the area like to ferment the wine completely dry, aka no sugar. This results in some of the driest, stelae is just most intense rieslings. They also have this very unique characteristics of just having a lot of this lime note, that I think is less common in other areas. And, of course, I actually realized that I forgot 1 major region in my notes, and that is Alsace in France. So interestingly enough, riesling is only allowed in one region in France, and that is Alsace. And Alsace actually used to be a part of Germany. So they're up in northeastern France, basically right along, the German border. They're basically separated from the rest of France by a bunch of mountains, so it's Very easy for them to kind of, be included in the Germany side. And it makes sense that they have a grape that came from Germany. But the the wines here, they have this really unique, like, oily, fattiness to them. They're also known for adding a little sugar before they ferment the wine, which just resulted in higher alcohol wines. They typically make a dry style here, but you can find a few sweet versions as well. And, of course, riesling can be grown in so many other regions. You have China, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Israel, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, and even Luxembourg. So, Basically, what I'm saying is you have to go out and try some more riesling. It has grown all across the world, and it is such a wonderful grape. And you're gonna find such different versions from it from each of these regions. So go out and try one. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine Podcast. Please let me know what other grape varieties would you like to learn about. If you loved it as much as I did, please just take a quick second, rate it, leave a review. Remember, review's on Apple Podcasts. Or you can go on a website called Podchaser and leave a review and let me know. You can also just take a screenshot or share this episode to your social media to let other people know to give it a try. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. I release new episodes every Wednesday. In next week's episode, I'll be telling you about one of my favorite wine regions in the entire world, Walla Walla, Washington. I feel like this region is like a secret little getaway that very few people know about. My hope is that by the end of the podcast, you will be trading your trip to Napa or a trip to Walla Walla. Thanks again for listening. And as a thank you, I'd like to share my free shopping guide, 15 wines under $15. Simply head to my website, korkandfizz.com, scroll down to the bottom, and join my mailing list. Cheers.