Riesling, Old World
5 facts on Riesling:
It’s a key aromatic grape - along with sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, muscat, viognier, and gewurztraminer.
It’s known for its bracing, steely acidity. Even when off-dry, which can often be the case, Riesling wines are high in acid.
Its tell-tale aromas are zippy lime, clean mineral, and - if aged - petrol, which we love!
Germany is the homeland of riesling where it’s made in a range of styles from dry to sweet. Alsace in eastern France, Austria, New Zealand, Finger Lakes in NY USA, and Eden & Clare Valley in Australian are other fantastic regions for riesling.
It’s the grape used in the production of eiswein (or ice wine); a fantastically bright and clean tasting sweet wine, made with the concentrated natural sugars of frozen grapes.
3 pairings for Riesling:
Zingy tempeh & peanut laab
(Recipe link here). This salad was the star of a Thai feast we spent a whole Saturday rustling up during lockdown. Catch the video here. Overall the salad is as zippy as can be with refreshing baby gem, plenty of lime juice, and lots of fresh herbs.
High acid food needs a wine with high acidity. Acidity in food - such as lime juice - decreases the perception of the wine's acidity, and thereby increases the perception of the wine’s sweetness. Therefore, with a salad like this, we need to start with the queen of acidity - Riesling! - to avoid a sad deflation of the wine. A crisp Riesling can happily survive a knock of two to its acidity, and with the acidity curtailed, this pairing may even enhance fruitier flavours of the wine making it all the more delicious!
A way-better-Waldorf
(Recipe link). For this salad choose a richer, off-dry Riesling. It will still have wonderfully high acidity which can withstand the curtailing influence of the tangy salad dressing, and it’s slight sweetness will marry beautifully with the sweet pops of sultana, the juicy pear, and the honey caramelised walnuts. Winner winner!
Chickpeas and wilted greens with preserved citrus, green chilli & yogurt
(Recipe link). The sauce here has a lively tang from the natural yogurt which matches the high acidity in the wine; and the briney, savoury nature of preserved lemons or limes are congruent with the mineral finish in a dry, fuller-bodied Riesling.
One of our favourite bottles of Riesling:
Region: Pflaz, Germany
Vintage: 2019
ABV: 13%
Purchased from: Marks & Spencer, here.
Cost: £13.50
Other info:
Riesling is a fantastically versatile food wine so experiment far and wide! It’s all too easy to assume rieslings are sweet wines, but if you look for the word ‘trocken’ on the label you’ll find something dry and very food friendly. We enjoyed this bottle with the chickpeas and wilted greens, described above.
On the nose:
This wine bursts with seductive stone fruits aromas - firm and ripening peaches and apricots, rather than über juicy ones - as well as the sweet scent yellow-skinned golden delicious apples. There’s a faint astringency of lime rind and lemon zest in the background.
On the palate:
It’s wonderfully crisp and bursts with the zip and zing of freshly-squeezed green apple juice, and the bright acidity of juicy lemons. It’s bone dry with a mineral backbone, and it’s rounded out with a fuller, weightier body than many a Riesling making it ultra smooth, and one to savour in the mouth.
