Riesling Flashcards
What climate for Riesling
Cool to Moderate
Three key coutries for Riesling
- Germany
- France (Alsace)
- Australia (Clare Valley)
What in Riesling changes sugars in the wine
Ripeness at harvest
What flavours do just ripe Rieslings produce
- **Green Fruit **
- Green Apple
- Pear
*Citrus - Lemon
- Lime
- Floral (White Blossom)
What flavours do extra ripe Rieslings produce (5 flavours)
- Stone Fruit
- Peach
- Apricot
- Tropical fruit
- Mango
- Pineapple
Sometimes Dried fruit (Dried Apricot)
Riesling Grid
Sweetness=Dry-OffDry-Medium-Sweet
Acid=High
Body=Light to Full Bodied
Flavour=Depend in ripeness and ranges from…….
* Green Apple
* Pear
* Lemon
* Lime
* Floral (White Blossom)
* Peach
* Apricot
* Mango
* Pineapple
Sometimes Dried fruit (Dried Apricot)
How are off dry or medium Rieslings made
Usually by interupting the fermentation by filtering out the yeast before fermentation is complete leaving a low alcholol wine with residual sweetness
OR
Adding unfermented grape juice
How are the sweeter styles of riesling typically made
Using extra ripe grapes, the grape juice is so highin sugar that the fermentation stops naturally
What is Riesling typically fermented in
Inert vessels
* stainless tanks
What are the important regions for German Riesling
- Mosel
- Rheingau
- Pfalz
Where is Mosel located and what type of wine does it produce
Body-Sweetness-Acid
- Most Northerly wine region in Germany
- Lighter bodied that southern rieslings
- Common to be medium sweetness (Balances the very high acid)
- Very high Acid
Where are the best vineyards in Mosel
- On the steep S or SW slopes facing the banks of the mosel river
- The S aspect light reflected from the River and the stony soils aid grape ripening
Where is the Rheingau region and how do the wines here compare to Mosel rieslings
- Located on the steep S facing slopes of the River Rhine to maximise sunlight
- These wines are typicaly drier and have more body that the Mosel region
Where is Pfalz located and what is it protected by?
- Located towards the French border (SE) corner
- Protected by mountains and has a dry sunny climate
What climate is Pfalz considered to have and wine style
- The Same as Alsace
- Typically a dry wine
- Medium body
Labelling in Germany what does it mostly reflect
much of Germanys labelling relates to ripeness of the grape at harvest time
What are the three high level labelling names in Germany that reflect grape ripeness.
- Landwein
- Qualitatswein
- Pradikatswein
What does Landwein indicate about the wine
Rielsing in germany
- Lighter bodied wine
- Dry to off dry style
What does Qualitatswein indicate about the wine
Riesling in Germany
- Must come from one of 13 winegrowing areas (eg Rheingau)
- Must have higher level of sweetness than Landwein
- They are usually more intense in flavour and fuller bodied than Landwein
What does Pradikatswein indicate about the wine
Riesling in Germany
- The wine must come from a single growing region
- The wine must have higher sugar than Qualitatswein
- There are six Pradikatswein categories in order of sugar levels in the grapes at the time of harvest
What are the six levels of sweeteness for Pradikatswein in order of sweetness
- Kabinette
- Spatlese (Late Harvest)
- Auslese (Select harvest)
- Beerenauslese (selected berry)
- Trockenbeerenauslese
(selected dried berry harvest) - Eiswein (ice wine)
Kabinett?
Body-3 flavour clusters?
- Lightest and most delicate reisling
- Light in body
Delicate green fruits and floral - Green apple
- Lime
- Blossom
Spatlese?
Harvest-Sweetness-Body comapred to?-Fruit (2 clusters)
- Late Harvest
- Riper and sweeter than Kabinett
- Fuller bodied
- Lemon/Lime
- Stonefruits/Peach
Auslese?
Harvest-3 fruit flavours-Sweetness
- Selected harvest (extra ripe bunches)
- Stone fruits and tropical fruits
- Apricot
- Mango
- Dried fruits
- Can be made in Trocken (DRY) stlye most have some sweetness
Eiswein?
name 4 flavours typical of Eiswein
- Icewine (Frozen on the vine)
- Vibrant stone fruit aromas/tropical aromas
- Peach
- Apricot
- Mango
- Pineapple
- Botrytis plays no part in production
- Small yeild high production cost wines that dont occur every vintage
Beerenauslese/BA?
What is it and what are the key flavours (4)
- Selected berry harvest. Bunchs that have been effected by botrytis
- Fresh stone fruits and tropical fruits
- Apricot
- Mango
- Dried fruit
- Honey
Trockenbeerenauslese?
- Selected dried berry harvest
- Berries dried from botrytis
- Rare and concentrated wines similar to B/A just more intense
What does Trocken mean
- A dry wine
What does Halbtrocken mean
- A wine with some sweetness
Alsace AOC where is it and what does the geography there do to the climate
- East of the Vosges Mountains
- They protect the area from the rain bearing westerly winds
- So its one of the driest and sunniest wine producing regions in all of France
Where are the best Alsace vineyards planted
- On the mountain foothills facing East or South-East
- These vineyard benefit from the morning sun
What is typical Alsace Riesling like as a wine
Aroma Intensity-Sweetness-Acidity-Body-Flavour
- Aroma Intensity=Pronounced
- Sweetness=Dry
- Acidity=High
- Body=Medium
- Flavour=Ripe Citrus and stone fruits
What two regions in Australia are known for Riesling
- Eden Valley
- Clare Valley
Why can Riesling be grown in the Clare and Eden valley and whats the climate
- The altitude keeps them cool
- The climate here is Moderate unlike the Barossa
What are Rieslings from the Clare and Eden Valley like
Aroma Intesity-Sweetness-Flavours
- Aroma Intensity=Pronounced
- Sweetness=Dry
- Flavours=Pronounced Lime, lemon and sometimes Petrol
