All the medallists from the Riesling Masters

Riesling may sometimes be sadly undervalued by consumers, but there’s no doubting this grape variety’s pedigree, writes Patricia Stefanowicz MW.

RIESLING IS a little like a king: he must be respected, but not everyone loves him. Queen Victoria did, certainly, almost as much as she adored her consort, Prince Albert, as she had more Rheingau Schloss Johannisberg wines in her royal cellar than anything else. But Riesling fell out of fashion after the Second World War, if not before, and is often viewed by consumers as a ‘difficult wine’.

The Rhine and Mosel in Germany, and Alsace in France, are considered Riesling’s homelands. First mentioned in the Rheingau in 1435, Riesling has long been the most important variety in these regions.

Under the influence of Germany’s viticultural researchers at Geisenheim and the specialist centre at Trier, German growers can choose from more than 60 different clones of Riesling, whereas France had historically only one. However, thanks to research and trials over the past 20 years, there are now at least eight Riesling clones certified for Alsace AOC/AOP wines.

Nowadays there are small plantings of Riesling elsewhere in France for Vin de France, and some in the Cévennes for IGP. Most French Rieslings are dry or off-dry, although in Alsace some years produce sweeter vendange tardive and even botrytised sélection de grains nobles.

In Germany, almost all the growers in the Rhine regions and the Mosel are dedicated to Riesling for their top age-worthy wines. In contrast to Alsace, German Rieslings vary from bone-dry Grosses Gewächs with 13.5% alcohol to delicate, late harvest, medium-sweet or sweet wines with a mere 7%–8% alcohol and gentle apple, apricot and orange marmalade flavours.

Austria produces aromatic, medium-bodied dry Rieslings, and the best wines we judged this year came from the Wachau, Kamptal and Kremstal in Niederösterreich, showing orange blossom, acacia honey and peach fruit, occasionally with a signature whiff of white pepper. Particularly notable were examples from Etz and Schmid.

Steiermark in southeastern Austria is another region to search out for expressive Rieslings. Unsurprisingly, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia and its nextdoor neighbour, Friuli in northeastern Italy, also produce attractive Rieslings, and there are plantings in Alto Adige, Hungary, Moldova and the cooler regions of Bulgaria.

WORLD-CLASS AUSTRALIA

Riesling, a very popular variety in the 19th and early 20th-century German Empire, was exported to Australia with numerous German settlers from the then-Prussian provinces of Brandenburg, Silesia and Posen. These people were among the earliest 19th-century immigrants to South Australia. Nowadays the plantings are focused in areas well-recognised for making world-class Rieslings: Eden and Clare Valleys, Tasmania and Great Southern.

From the samples we saw this year, the style is both consistent and reliably delicious: bone-dry (or nearly dry) wines, exhibiting minerality and bracing acidity supporting zesty, lemon-lime fruit with floral overtones. Orlando, Pikes, Gatt and Hatch showed particularly well in our tasting. Jacob’s Creek’s upper-end offering, Wakefield/Taylors St Andrews and Langmeil’s Wattle Brae also garnered Gold awards.

Dry 100% Riesling (Up to 4 g/l)

Across the Tasman Sea, there are off-dry Rieslings, with apricot, orange blossom and honey framed by crisp acidity produced in New Zealand, especially in Marlborough and Waipara on the South Island, and we judged a few of those in 2024.

Riesling is grown in the Americas, especially North America, where off-dry examples are produced in Washington State and Oregon, and in the Finger Lakes area in up-state New York. Across the border in Canada, especially in Ontario, dry or off-dry wines are produced, and fine, delicate icewines are made when weather conditions co-operate. Trius Winery’s Showcase Riesling icewine, from the Niagara Peninsula, excited the judges to award a Master and formed a delightful coda to our judging day.

The judging panel unanimously agreed that Riesling is unjustly ignored. Delightful, relatively light and certainly elegant, these are wines which should play a role in every discerning wine drinker ’s repertoire.

With texture, great acidity quite often balancing some level of sweetness, and, occasionally, gentle, creamy wood, these wines have a wide range of drinking opportunities – delicious as aperitifs, as accompaniments to cheese or as foils for savoury or sweet dishes.

Medium Dry 100% Riesling (Up to 12 g/l)

Medium 100% Riesling (up to 45 g/l)

Icewine

Dry Blend (up to 4 g/l)

Medium Dry Blend (up to 12 g/l)

Medium Blend (up to 45 g/l)