Riesling Flashcards
Characteristics
- An aromatic grape
- Pronounced frutiy and floral aromatic
- High acidity
- Just-ripe: Green fruites (apple, pear) and citrus (lemon, lime)
- Extra-ripe: Stone fruits (peach, apricot), tropicl fruits (mango, pineapple), and dried fruit (dried apricots, raisins)
- High natural acidity is perfect for balancing high levels of sweetness
- Can develo complex tertiary flavours of honey, dried fruits, or petrol
Terroir
Dry and sunny autumn conditions
Winemaking
- Typically ferment in inert vessels
Off-dry or medium style
* Interrupting the fermentation by removing yeast
* Adding sterile grape juice (Süssreserve)
Sweetest style
* Made with extra-ripe grapes
Germany
Regions
Mosel
* Lighter body
* Medium sweetness
* Very high acidity
* The best vinyards are on steep south or south-east facing slopes on the banks of the Mosel River with stony soils and reflected sunlights
Rheingau
* Drier and have more body than Mosel Rieslings
* On steep south-facing slopes on the north bank of the river Rhine
Pfalz
* An extenstion of Alsace region, climatically
* Dry
* Medium body
Germany Labelling Terminology
Based on the sugar levels
Landwein
* PGI wine
* Light body
* Dry to off-dry
Qualitätswein
* PDO wines from one of 13 regions in Germany
* More intense flavour and fuller body
Prâdikatswein
* The grapes come from a single region
* Kabiness
* Spätlese (late harvest)
* Auslese (selected harvest)
* Eiswein (icewine)
* Beerenauslese (selected barry harvest)
* Trockenbeerenauslese (select dried berry harvest)
Trocken
Dry wine
Halbtrocken
A wine with some sweetness
France
Regions
Alsace AOC
* The best vinyards are in the mountain foothills facing east or south-east
* Long period of sunshine explosure
* Dry with pronounced aroma and flavour
* Ripe citrus and stone-fruit flavours
* Vibrant blossom aromas
Australia
Regions
Eden Valley, Clare Valley
* Premium Rieslings
* Moderate climates
* Dry style
* Pronounced aromas of lime, peach, blossom, and petrol