Winning you round to Riesling

In keeping with many of us in the wine business, I love the Riesling grape. In many ways, for me, it is the grape. The one I love before all others. If a Riesling is on offer, it always calls to me and it pains me that so many people seem indifferent to its charms.

It follows from this that I like to present Riesling to consumers and hope that my love of the grape variety will rub off on to them. To that end I am always trying to win people round to Riesling. It has to be admitted that my success has been patchy, many people who enjoy other wines seem unable to find the pleasure in a fine Riesling that I do, but I have had some converts recently and it was two particular Rieslings that did it, so I thought that I would share them with you. They are both very different in style, but both are hugely enjoyable as well as being affordable.

If the delights of Riesling have passed you by, will you do me a favour – give it one last try. Today may be the day that you see the Riesling light and these may be the examples that win you round.

Lorraine – wine worthy of the chase

 

The Moselle River in Lorraine

As many of you will know, I enjoy trying unusual wines, so take every chance I get to taste the odd, different and rare.

To that end I have a sort of mental list of things to keep my eye open for and for a long time I have wanted to try something from Lorraine, other than quiche. As a keen amateur historian I wanted to compare them to Alsace wines – after all the two regions get lumped together rather a lot.

I also wanted to compare them to the wines that I have tasted from Luxembourg recently – added to which I do tend to like wines made from this part of the world – in theory anyway.

Chasselas – a rare delight

The other day I tried a pretty unusual wine made from the Chasselas grape. I have tried some examples of this grape before, but not very many. It is most famous as the variety used to make Pouilly Fumé’s less well known cousin – Pouilly-sur-Loire or as Fendant in the Valais canton of Switzerland, where it makes some lovely dry white wines. There are other plantings in the Baden region of Germany and Savoie, but apart from the Loire it is pretty localised to an area that straddles Switzerland and the Germanic world and the one I tried hailed from Alsace.

Riesling – a world tour

Riesling growing on the banks of the Moselle in Luxembourg

Riesling is a bit like Marmite – you either love it or hate it. Most of us in the wine business love Riesling, indeed many of us would class it as one of our favourite grapes, right up there with Pinot Noir.

Ask most consumers to list their favourite grapes, however and it is pretty unusual for Riesling to feature at all.

Personally I love Riesling, I find it a grape that I can get passionate about. What is more I seem to like all styles of Riesling, whether steely dry, off-dry, medium-dry or richly sweet – all can be wonderful in their place and make refreshing Summer wines.

Super-Alsatian?

My recent article about Alsace has moved me to try more from that lovely region and my efforts have been rewarded with a most extraordinary wine.

It is produced by the wonderful Domaine Zind-Humbrecht – an incredible producer and not one to rest on its laurels. Like so many of the great Alsace estates they have been at it a long time, the Humbrecht family have farmed here since 1620 and in 1959 Leonard Humbrecht married Genevieve Zind. From that moment the reputation of the house really took off with concentrated wines being produced from a scattering of great vineyards. Leonard’s son Olivier now runs the domaine and he has taken Zind-Humbrecht to new heights of fame; he is France’s first Master of Wine and has developed an extraordinary understanding of his terroir and his grapes and has become a passionate advocate of Biodynamic viticulture.

Alsace – time for me to rethink

I am currently rekindling my love affair with Alsace wines. Alsace is a fascinating place, it is very beautiful, has wonderful cuisine and produces wines that are never less than interesting – even if you don’t like them – oh and it makes some of the best lager in the world too!