RIESLING
Quick overview
Riesling is an aromatic grape variety that is quite floral and often expresses stone fruit flavours such as apricot and lychee. I find that Rieslings often smell a lot different than they taste, as they can be quite petrol-y, as weird as it may sound. They can be dry or sweet and are often low in alcohol due to the sweetness, so quite good for drinking on a school night!
On the grapevine...
Riesling will often express the differences of individual vineyards and so producers often put the name of the vineyards on their labels. So worth remembering those that you like.
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Riesling wines age well (and can often last for decades) developing honeyed aromas but still retaining their aromatic nature.
More about the grape...
Germany is the home of Riesling and wines are generally split into the below three categories ranging from dry to sweet:
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Kabinett Rieslings are light in body with high acidity
Spatlese Rieslings (late harvest) have more body with citrus and exotic fruit flavours - pineapple/ mango
Auslese Rieslings have even more exotic fruit flavours. Most Auslese Rieslings are either medium or sweet
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Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese Rieslings are sweet wines and made from grapes affected by noble rot.
Random information...
For premium-quality wines, Riesling is almost never blended and almost all Riesling wines are varietally labelled (with the grape variety Riesling as the main title on the bottle rather than the producer).
Safe bet countries/ regions (this is a VERY general guide)
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Germany - Pfalz along with Mosel (lightest-bodied Rieslings)
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France - Alsace
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Austria (Normally always dry and more fuller bodied than German Rieslings)
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Clare Valley and Eden Valley - Australia