Falstaff Magazin International 00/2021

wine / RIESLING The

wine / RIESLING The climate in Marlborough, New Zealand, is cool but sunny and thus ideal for the aromatic development of Riesling. BEST OF Rest of the world Riesling < THE REST OF THE WORLD In New Zealand, there are 569 hectares/ 1,406 acres of Riesling, mostly in Marlborough on the South Island, a cool but sunny climate ideal for the aromatic development and acid retention in the grapes. In South Africa, there is even less: just 126 hectares/311 acres and they are mostly in Elgin, the country’s coolest growing region. Jessica Saurwein of the eponymous estate, says: “There is simply no other region at the moment in South Africa that can do Riesling as well.“ She also notes the weathered shale soils, the cooling altitude and maritime influences of her vineyards. INCREDIBLE VALUE Riesling grows on every continent and makes distinct wines with much character and ageability Yet, compared to other white varieties, it still has an image problem. While things are changing slowly, the THERE IS SIMPLY NO OTHER REGION IN SOUTH AFRICA THAT CAN DO RIESLING AS WELL. JESSICA SAURWEIN, WINEMAKER remarkable thing about Riesling is its price: even the best wines are still in the realm of the affordable – most are actually incredible value. Riesling remains an absolute bargain. In some ways this is a scandal: just think of the back-breaking work it takes to farm the steep, stony slopes that Riesling loves so much. For Riesling lovers, however, this is a boon. Single-vineyard Rieslings, no matter where in the world they are grown, are exquisite, expressive wines and can age for decades. If you like the thrill of acid and if crystalline purity turns you on, you had better get in on the game. < F-SERIES OLD VINE RIESLING 2009 96 Framingham Wines, Marlborough, New Zealand This tiny boutique estate has a huge reputation for its pristine Riesling interpretations. DRY RIESLING 2009 96 Felton Road, Central Otago, New Zealand Renowned for its stellar Pinot Noir, Felton Road makes outstanding Rieslings, too. BEL CANTO RIESLING 2015 95 Pegasus Bay, North Canterbury, New Zeland Rich but dry, Bel Canto has become a byword for premium New Zealand Riesling. EROICA XLC DRY RIESLING 2017 94 Chateau Ste Michelle & Dr. Loosen, Washington, USA This German-American joint venture pushes Riesling boundaries in Washington State. CHI RIESLING 2020 93 Saurwein Wines, Elgin, South Africa Jessica Saurwein‘s expressive Riesling from Elgin is as stony as it is fruity. DRY RIESLING LEIDENFROST 92 VINEYARD 2017 Forge Cellars, Finger Lakes, USA Unusual flavours characterise this single vineyard Riesling from upstate New York. EROICA RIESLING 2019 92 Chateau Ste Michelle & Dr. Loosen, Washington, USA Deliberately named after Beethoven‘s ground-breaking symphony, this dry Riesling has become a Washington classic. Photos:NZW.Inc.Giesen.Wines, Ralf Kaiser - Weinkaiser.de, provided 68 falstaff summer 2021

GERMAN RIESLING GLORY, DOWNFALL AND COMEBACK Riesling is inextricably linked with Germany. Growing along the river Rhine and its tributaries, it evolved as a quality variety and reached its greatest fame in the late 19th century. Few pictures illustrate Riesling‘s stylistic diversity better than the one below, taken on the same October day in 2018 in the Pündericher Marienburg vineyard farmed by Clemens Busch and his family in Germany‘s Mosel valley. SELECTIVE HARVESTING Modern trellised farming methods can ensure even ripening of grapes, but Riesling from old vines, grown on single stakes, ripens unevenly and this uneven ripeness – along with selective harvesting – is behind Germay‘s system of Prädikate: the greenish grapes will result in Kabinett wines, the yellow ones in Spätlese, the amber ones in Auslese, Beerenauslese and eventually Trockenbeerenauslese. When these grapes are vinified separately, they result in very different styles. This gave rise to the use of Prädikate. These became an established and accepted quality key for Riesling in the growing regions that specialised in it: Rheingau, Mosel, Saar and Ruwer, Pfalz and parts of Rheinhessen. The Prädikate were predominantly applied to Riesling. The best wines, often kept in barrel to mature for years, were called Cabinet. Wines without a Prädikat were simply labelled by site or village. HISTORIC QUALITY LINKED TO PROVENANCE In pre-climate change Germany, Riesling with its need for an extended growing season, would only ripen fully in the very best sites. Most of these wines were dry. Only in exceptional years would overripe grapes, or grapes affected by noble rot (Botrytis cinerea), result in rare and precious sweet wines. Harvested selectively from single sites, these grapes resulted in strikingly different styles of wine. It was the wines from these single, exceptional sites that created Riesling’s reputation. Despite the old German wine law which had never clearly defined origin, Prädikate were a real currency. Quality was linked to Riesling as a grape variety and to site – but the 1971 wine law severed that link to a large degree. It allowed German wine, and above all Riesling, to become a mockery of itself. THE LEGAL PROBLEM The 1971 wine law applied Prädikate to all grapes after setting minimum ripeness levels measured in degrees of Oechsle (the density of sugar in grape juice). It appropriated the Prädikate and FEW PICTURES ILLUSTRATE RIESLING‘S STYLISTIC DIVERSITY BETTER THAN THE ONE BELOW. mis-appropriated the term Cabinet by turning it into Kabinett, as the lowest ripeness level. That earlier-ripening grape varieties can assimilate more sugar more quickly and thus could be made into wines that qualified meaninglessly as Auslese or Spätlese did not matter to the law. TECHNICAL ADVANCES AND DECLINE However, the law did not change the reality that Riesling is a late-ripening grape that demands the best sites. Riesling planted in lesser sites had eye-watering levels of acidity. But technological advances meant that non-Prädikat wines could be sterile-filtered and sweetened (legally) to the desired level. Thin, meagre Rieslings were thus sold with sweetness levels decoupled from any ripeness of the grapes harvested. Then there were the confusing German labels, with unintelligible names, and the wildly unpredictable flavour profile of the wines themselves. The fact that a Kabinett wine can be dry, off-dry or sweet confuses consumers to this day. The combination of all these factors meant that Riesling took a huge reputational hit – one it is still recovering from today. THE COMEBACK German Riesling was almost driven to its knees. But in the 1980s and 90s things slowly began to change. Two factors reversed the trend: climate change and the return to the idea of provenance. After the aberrations of the 20th century, German Riesling is back where it belongs – at the top. < Riesling grapes all picked in one Mosel vineyard on the same October day. summer 2021 falstaff 69