Clean Slate Riesling
Wine has been a struggle with me at times, especially
whites, wherein I’ve wanted something a touch sweet and round, yet light and
the white Zins, by then, had become a bit too cloying for me and I hadn’t found
my exact favorite in a red. Truth be told, I sort of gave up on wines for a while, aside
from sake, which has been a fairly constant companion, and
gravitated back to mostly beer.
It was on this course when I wound up being best man at a
former friend’s wedding and, after dutifully nursing a glass of the lower
ranged reds they had there for a few hours, the groom introduced me to the
wonders of Riesling. We appropriated all the bottles of that we could find
(they had a mix) and enjoyed glorious glass after glass of that wonderful
nectar potion until the last was emptied. The wine was one that I immediately ran out and got (it’s on the
HSC list currently, but has gone back to a re-testing phase, due to excessive inconsistencies between bottles) and enjoyed repeatedly until I finally
tired of it.
So, heavily into the reds of a few years ago, I came to view
Rieslings and Moscatos as mostly light, sort of frivolous wines, almost,
suitable for dessert and little else, certainly not for hanging out and
drinking. That is still mostly the case, but every once in a while, something
will come up on SPA that sparks my interest and this is a perfect example of
that, showing up on sale while I was perusing the German aisle. Since the grape
originated there and I hadn’t the chance to try a German version of this
delectable varietal yet, that was an easy choice to grab.
While the other Riesling was heavily sweet and a bit sugary
(definitely needs to be served cold), this one is a lot drier, lending it a
certain amount of complexity and also allowing the wine to develop somewhat on
the palate as it warms. The aspect of apples (as opposed to heavy fruit, such
as peach for the Moscato) is still present and it doesn’t have the perfumery
nature of the Moscato, either, but presents a remarkably clean drink, slightly
sweet, yet well-balanced with acidity that is an experience to itself. A bottle
of this amply demonstrates the huge difference between American and European
brews, utilizing the same varietal.
As usual, I do not rate whites on the normal scale, including this one.
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