A New View on Riesling's

I’m not sure how many of you out there enjoy Rieslings, or if many of you are like me and usually steer clear of them, because I’ve always thought they were too sweet.

Well, I decided to not be close minded any longer and venture out and try some different Rieslings (with the suggestions from some of my ‘wine-o’ friends) and have found that there ARE some very good Rieslings out there, that aren’t as sweet as I thought they all would be – in fact, I discovered that a Riesling is almost a wild-card wine, if you will.  There are several taste combinations such as: tart and dry, soft and slightly sweet, super sweet with more sweet and of course, tart and sweet.

I tasted 2 from Washington State:

Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl 2011 – This Riesling was quite tasty…it had tastes of green apple with other citrus fruits on the front of the palate, but the finish was a nice and soft melon flavor that was not dry at all. When I first tasted it, I almost thought “Oh no! This is exactly why I don’t drink Rieslings!” But as I finished the taste, it was really nice. I love a wine that pleasantly surprises me. Once again, Charles Smith Wineries knocked it out of the park. J  This wine will retail anywhere from $12.00 to $16.00.

Milbrandt Traditional 2010 – Now this one surprised me…It was the first one I tasted when I started my “research”.  A friend of mine poured me a taste and asked me to blindly guess the varietal – I guessed a Sauvignon Blanc – Wrong! See what I mean…Rieslings are the wild card wine, I swear!  J This has flavors of peaches, apricots and grapefruit all rolled in one, on the front of the palate. As it finishes it softens with a subtle hint of spice – it was delicious.  Another good “go-to’ wine….I’m really starting to have too many of those.  J This wine will retail anywhere from $10.00 - $15.00.

Then….I tasted 2 from Germany along the Mosel River

Selbach Oster Kabinett 2010 – Two words…Dee Lish! I think I liked it this one so well because it was right up my alley as far as taste and tannin’s go. The flavors in this Riesling were similar to the Milbrandt, peaches, soft melon flavor and just really, really light. The tannins were active on the front of the palate but settled down really quick.  This wine would go good with or without food and is served best (I think) with a light chill – not super cold, just lightly. It’s too light to be served to too chilly.  This wine will retail anywhere from $13.00 - $20.00.

Monchhof Estate 2010 – Completely different from the Selbach - but just up on the Mosel Rover, not far away.  This wine had its own character – a little sweet for me but still very good.  The flavors on this wine were apples and nectarines on the front palate, with a light sweet finish. The taste kind of hangs with you a little after wards.  So, to balance the sweet, I enjoyed this wine with a couple slices of damgoode pies pizza,(yes, its the name of a pizza place) which went together quite well.  Some of you “sweet” wine drinkers, I think, will really like this one if drinking without food.  Funny how 2 wines from the same grape and same region can taste almost like 2 different varietals.   This wine will retail anywhere from $16.00 - $25.00.

Well, I hope I’ve shed some light for some of you who may have been steering clear of Rieslings, there really are a lot of different flavors in a Riesling and like I said above, I like being pleasantly surprised. Hope y’all try some of the ones I’ve tasted and send me your tasting notes…what did you think of the wine?

Cheers!