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Ra! Ra! Riesling!
Good ones, bad ones, fat ones, lean ones
©
Michael Vaughan 2006
National Post
Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist
Saturday,
May 13, 2006
LIVE
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I feel a bit like a cheerleader at a championship game that was put on rain delay. The fans are quietly sitting there tenaciously waiting for the rain to stop, at least those not staring at me. I am prancing about with some other enthusiasts, like Jancis Robinson, trying to excite the crowd. Give me an "R" - give me an "I" - give me an "E" - give me an "S" - etc. Instead of a roar, we get a mouse-like Riesling squeak. While hot in restaurants, Riesling still tends to be neglected. When tasted blind in California tasting rooms, visitors apparently prefer Riesling 2:1 to Chardonnay. And yet, ironically, it is Chardonnay they buy!
Perhaps it is the name of the grape, which is pronounced in every conceivable manner from Rise-ling and Rice-ling to Rease-ling (as in grease). The latter is the way I articulate the grape's name. Whatever, Riesling is food-friendly, versatile, generally oak-free and perfect for Spring. There are good ones, bad ones, fat ones and lean ones - Rieslings, as well as, mothers! On that note, Riesling also happens to be a great choice for Mother's Day.
It comes in a huge number of styles, from ultra sweet and viscous to brutally dry, acidic and crisp. Today's release of 26 Rieslings is a bit disappointing. In fact, one has to beware of the Rieslings advertised inside the Vintages catalogue, which are surprising unremarkable. Ditto for the three simply ok "terroir" releases from Kendermann.
While,
Germany produces the finest Rieslings on earth, today's release of ten
items features only one head turner at $28.95. From the Mosel comes Selbach-Oster
2003 Riesling Auslese Bernkasteler Badstube
(684365) at $28.95. With a mere 9% alcohol, it is surprisingly well
structured with sweet, ripe melon flavours and a refreshing, lingering,
lime-tinged finish. Riesling with its high acidity, can often age quite
gracefully and this may well be better in a year or two.
The
best German value is the reliable Lingenfelder
2004 Bird Label Riesling (568634) at $13.95,
which has a screwcap and comes from the Pfalz. Drier than the latter with
a higher 11% alcohol, it has slightly sweetish, gently juicy, ripe apple
flavours and a slightly honeyed, melon finish.
It
is embarrassing to admit that most of today's best Rieslings come from the
New World. From Ontario, go for Chateau
des Charmes 2004 Riesling Estate (277228) at
$15.95. Designated as a VQA from the Niagara Peninsula, it has 12.%
alcohol. Spicy, bright and medium-light bodied, the slightly honeyed, just
off-dry, tangy, ripe lemon-melon flavours show good length.
From
Australia's Clare Valley my choice would be the intense, dry,
well-structured Leasingham
2004 Magnus Riesling (675306) at $15.95, which
weighs in with 13% alcohol. It also comes with a screwcap closure and has
those dried ripe lemon-melon flavours with good minerality on the
lingering finish. Like Selbach-Oster above, it is the kind of wine that
should improve with another year or so of aging.
An
Old World favourite comes from Austria's Kremstal region, Salomon
Undhof 2004 Riesling Kögl (675819) at $20.95.
The vineyard hangs above the banks of the Danube River just northwest of
Vienna. It is crisp, dry and rather light bodied with harmonious, zesty,
ripe apple-melon flavours and a dry finish.
What makes this wine unique, at least in terms of what we seen at the
LCBO, is that it comes in a specially designed bottle that incorporates a
revolutionary, easy-to-remove, glass-stopper called VinoLock.
Launched in Germany two years ago, this eliminates any possibility of cork
taint and can be used to reseal the bottle. Brilliant!
Both
New Zealand Rieslings are drinking destinations. The first is Seifried
2005 Nelson Riesling (989541) at $16.95, which
comes in a Bordeaux-shaped green bottle. From vineyards in the small
Nelson region located on the north coast of the South Island, it is
medium-light bodied, crisp and faintly off-dry with fairly juicy, ripe
lemon-melon flavours with a harmonious, honeyed finish. Complete with
screwcap, it is ready to enjoy.
Also
with a screwcap is my release highlight and best buy: Babich
2004 Dry Marlborough Riesling (642694) at only
$15.95. Coming from the South Island's sizable Marlborough region, this
one stands up and says "hello". Intense, definitely dry, medium
bodied and very flavourful with honey-tinged, spicy, delicious, ripe
rhubarb-melon fruit that linger perfectly on the palate. A terrific
ready-to-enjoy wine perfect for mom and fine restaurant wine lists.
For
that really special mom, let me suggest a half bottle of Henry
of Pelham 2004 Riesling Icewine (430561) a
Vintages Essential at $54.95. With 10% alcohol and 22.4% residual sugar,
it was a gold medal winner (best of 2004 Riesling class) in this year's
Icewine Olympics competition, which featured 61 Ontario vintage 2004
icewines. This one has rich, sweet, honeyed, baked apple nose. On the
palate, it is tangy and sweet but balanced with vibrant, gently viscous,
apple purée flavours and a wonderful lingering finish. Great for dessert
or even foie gras. National Post readers wishing to check out other
icewine winners click
here.
Another possible gift for mom might be a delicious bottle of fruit wine. Alas, none of the three currently featured are worth a detour. However, all is not lost. Why not plan to take her to the upcoming annual Fruit Wine & Food Festival, which takes place on Saturday, May 27 from noon to 5 pm at the Archibald Winery in Bowmanville. Ontario fruit wineries will match their wares with cuisine created by local chefs. For tickets and info call 905-263-2396 or email archibalds@idirect.com. Directions are posted on their website at www.archibaldswinery.com.
Finally, as for today's 15 newly released in-store discoveries (ISDs), Vintages apparently does not want them written up because they might sell too quickly. Let me oblige by simply saying that from the few tasted (costing up to $89.95), you are not missing anything! If you have any comments email mbv@biteback.ca
2001-2002-2003-2004-2005-2006
Tasting Note Database
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2006
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Contact Michael Vaughan at
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