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I LOVE Riesling! Sounds more like a confession doesn’t it. Truly though, it is one of the most diverse, refined and wonderful varieties; from the bone dry to the sweetest of nectars.

There are groups completely dedicated to Riesling, such as the International Riesling Foundation – http://www.drinkriesling.com/ . This site is fantastic http://www.destinationriesling.com/ . Try out their food and wine matching tool, it was written by Ronn Wiegand, Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and Publisher of RestaurantWine. This site is dedicated more to the wonderful Rieslings of Germany and Alsace but it can certainly be applied more broadly as a style guide recommending the many different variants of Riesling and which suit specific types of dishes.

With the huge variety of exotic cuisine and our amazing seafood, Riesling should be one of the first wines we reach for in the white wine stakes. Its versatility and complexity is by far the most interesting and rewarding.
My suggestion to wine lovers of NZ, let go of your memories of times long gone by. We moved on from terrible sugared up bulk Riesling a long time ago. We now are blessed with passionate winemakers who understand this most noble variety and aspire to the great Rieslings of Germany and Alsace.

As I mentioned there are so many different styles and perhaps that is the reason consumers are wary, not knowing whether it will be sweet or dry in many cases.  More and more the wineries are stating the style of Riesling (more so when dry) which is a big help.  You obviously have our expert help anytime you are trying to explore new wine styles and don’t forget to try the food and wine matching tool above as a starting point.

There is a reason there are so many devotees to Riesling, take this magnificent wine journey for yourself and find out why.

Chris and I reviewed 3 brilliant NZ Rieslings – all very different styles of course! Take a look:

Craggy Range Fletcher Vineyard Riesling 2008
Craggy Range Fletcher Vineyard Noble Riesling 2008 (375ml)
Fromm Riesling Spatlese 2008

Cheers
Tracey