International Riesling Day is soon upon us this Sunday, March the 13th. In celebration of all things Riesling, we have a few below that you will not want to miss out on!
Riesling is a grape that makes for a diversity of wine styles from bone dry to lushishly sweet. I often get asked at tables what my favourite wine is and, although that answer is always in flux, it would absolutely be a riesling! It’s a grape that almost always has vibrant acidity which means it’s refreshing, and it is delightfully food-friendly with a milieu of cuisines that can sometimes be hard to pair (India, Thai, Japanese). There seriously is a riesling out there for everyone and for every food.
We do some fantastic rieslings in the Okanagan but its spiritual home would be Germany. They rank their wines based on the sugar level in the grape when harvested. To help navigate the sweetness level, the hierarchy of driest to sweetest goes roughly like this:
Kabinett (fully ripe)
Spätlese (late harvest)
Auslese (extra ripe)
Beerenauslese (botrytis affected grapes and rare)
Eiswein (even more rare)
Trockenbeerenauslese (unicorn)
The term Trocken means ‘dry’ and when attached to Kabinett and Spätlese styles, it means that the wine will have very little sugar left. Pro tip: the higher the listed alcohol on the bottle, the drier the wine will be!
But enough wine law - let’s get tasting!
Selbach Oster Trocken 2019 (Mosel, Germany)– $36.99
This is a great example of what old world riesling can be when dry is done well and Johannes Selbach is a man who knows how to make riesling. The Selbach family has been making wine in the famed Mosel Valley for over 400 years and farms sustainably on some of the world’s greatest riesling plots. Working vines (many of which are over 100 years old) that are grown on some of the steepest vineyards in the world mean that all their work is done by hand.
Tart yellow apple and pear, quince, dried Myer lemon pith and slate mixed with wet rock minerality that lasts from start to finish - this wine is all about concentration. Pair this wine with sushi!
Fritz Haag Spätlese 2018 (Mosel, Germany) – $54.99
The first mention of Fritz Haag’s estate in the Mosel dates to 1605 centred in the town of Brauneberg. Much like the rest of the Mosel, the vineyards of Fritz Haag seem impossibly steep (some at an 80-degree pitch). Just like every other vintage throughout its history, the vineyard work is all done by hand - these days by Oliver Haag and his wife Jessica.
This bottle is lightly sweet with a kiss of honey. It boasts flavours and aromas of honeysuckle, golden apple, ripe peach, apricot jam, lemon preserves with mineral notes of slate and flint. Pair this wine with bleu or strong cheeses accompanied with dried fruit and jams or pâtés where luscious, rich flavours need balancing. It’s also delicious on its own sans food!
Peter Lehmann Wigan 2015 (Eden, Australia) – $32.99
Peter Lehmann’s winery has long been famous for making iconic Barossa. The bottle label is an homage to Andrew Wigan – a winemaking protégée of Peter Lehmann and the estate’s chief winemaker from 1980-2014. Where Lehmann built his reputation on Shiraz, Wigan had a passion for producing white wines that now are named in tribute.
In this dry offering, look for lime, kafir leaf, citrus pith, and the telltale hint of kerosene. A touch of smoke shows up on the palate and there is a stony minerality that pushes and pulls with a zippy, refreshing acidity. Lovers of dry rieslings can keep this in mind as BBQ season approaches – shrimp skewers anyone?
Synchromesh Long’s View Vineyard 2020 (Okanagan , BC) – $29.99
Riesling has been long regarded as a type of grape that thrives in BC. The cool nights moderated by the Okanagan Valley’s many lakes and our unique patchwork of glacial soils has pushed many of our best producers to latch on to the grape-producing world-class results! Since purchasing their property back in 2010, Alan and Amy Dickinson of Synchromesh have quietly established themselves as one of the great standard bearers of Riesling in BC.
Organically farmed at various sites in Okanagan Falls GI, their home vineyards have dispensed with the manicured rows of vines in favour of biodiversity and holistic farming. The profile of their Rieslings are as varied as their vineyard sites, but at Long’s View, the key is balance.
Flavours of ripe lemon, lime and white peach with tart yellow apple are there in force but the key takeaway is that this off-dry wine is beautifully balanced with vibrant, mouthwatering acidity. Whether looking for a homegrown answer to those aromatic Indian and South Asian dishes or just wanting to enjoy a glass on a sunny day – you can stop your search here!
About the Author
Andrew Forsyth is a sommelier at L’abattoir Restaurant in Vancouver who also moonlights at Jak’s South Granville location. He currently holds the title of Sommelier of the Year from Wines of British Columbia and is working towards his Advanced Sommelier designation.