Revealing riesling

Looking quizzically at a wine of the moment

Uncorked by David Marglin

"You should have listened to me," my wine merchant said, "and written about German rieslings before they became all the rage. They're flying off the shelves, and a lot of our best ones are gone now."

Well, maybe. There are still a lot of good values to be found in German rieslings, and as usual I'll recommend several below. But I will also caution: rieslings, German or otherwise, are not everyone's cup of tea.

A lot of wine aficionados love this grape, reveling in its (relative) untrendiness, and a lot of people who like sweet wines find riesling appealing, since even the dry rieslings have a syrupy quality and mouth feel that makes them seem sweet. And many wine writers contend that rieslings pair well with more foods than chardonnay or sauvignon blanc, although this has not been my experience. In any event, people are buying them.

Let me say up-front that I like sweet wines. But as a rule I like sweet wines with a certain complexity, and most German rieslings under $20 are not complex in the least. I drank more than 40 rieslings for this column (yes, it's a hard job, but somebody has to do it). Though a few appealed to me, most were rather flat and limited (I kept tasting apples).

So how to navigate German rieslings?

First off, you need to understand how they're categorized. The classification system is so complex that you practically need a course just to understand the label. The names tend to be long: there's a lot to digest before you even take your first sip. A German wine label includes the name of the producer and the region, then the village name immediately preceding the name of the vineyard, and finally the quality level. Ripeness is an important part of the classification system, because Germany is very far north -- unless the weather is excellent, most of the grapes will not fully ripen.

There are three basic quality levels: table wines (Tafelwein), country wines (Landwein), and quality wines (Qualitätswein). The last comes in two levels, and all the wines reviewed below are either QbA (the lower level of Qualitätswein) or QmP (the upper level). QmP is further divided: the lowest QmP level, in which the grapes are least ripe and therefore least sweet, is called Kabinett, then comes Spätlese (pronounced Shpate-laser), then Auslese (always a sweet wine), Beerenauslese (an after-dinner sweet wine), and finally Trockenbeerenauslese (rare and supersweet). You won't find much Spätlese or Auslese under $20, so if you're on a tight budget, most of what you'll be tasting will be Kabinett.

Rieslings, when they are young, have a ton of acid that gives them what some describe as a petrol flavor. If you like really sweet wines, then you may want to try a more mature riesling, because the acid softens a lot with bottle age -- and when the acids soften, the sweetness is more up-front. The 1990s are drinking particularly well now, and good ones can be had for around 30 bucks a throw.

If you want to stick with something a little drier, ask and then keep asking -- what some wine sellers think of as dry, I still found to be kind of sweet. Dry rieslings are the trend elsewhere in the world, and many Germans are now trying to churn out drier wines. But because sweetness has always been a byproduct of ripeness, and ripeness has always been at such a premium in Germany (and because, let's face it, Germans like their wines sweet), there are still not that many dry German rieslings available.

So it comes down to this: De gustibus non est disputandum, or something like that, which loosely translated means there's no disputing matters of taste, and no arguing with a wine critic. I think the Rhine may be the prettiest river in the world, and I encourage anyone to try these wines at least once, just to see. But I'd also caution that if you don't like sweetness in your wines, you may want to steer clear of the German riesling boat. If sweetness is not a problem for you, then rieslings may be the honey in your cup of tea.

(Many of the following wines were purchased at Big Y, near the intersection of Routes 5, 9, and 91, in Northampton. This is one of New England's best wine stores, but most of the wines I purchased there are also available in Boston.)

** Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett 1997 ($12.99, Big Y). A Mosel-Saar-Ruwer wine that is sweet yet well balanced. Slightly spicy, with a touch of pumpkin and rhubarb to go with the usual citrus and apple flavors.

** ¹/₂ Batterieberg Spätlese 1990 ($18.29, Big Y). Slight citrus flavor with a hint of apple and plenty of pear, but also a lot of typical sweetness and an unctuousness characteristic of non-dry rieslings. A lot of acidity, but a lot of flavor, too. It shows what a few years in the bottle can do.

** ¹/₂ Durkheimer Hochbein Kabinett 1997 ($9.99, Wine Cask). For 10 bucks, you can't buy a better riesling. Not overly sweet, this Pfalz wine, from a region that borders on Alsace, is sharp and lean. It has character and style, and relatively high alcohol (10 percent; many of these wines have less than 9 percent). Seek it out.

*** Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett 1996 ($17.99, Wine Cask). Lots of apples and a touch of pear. This is my kind of wine, with restrained sweetness. It is from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region, where 1996 was an excellent year, with plenty of ripe fruit. This would go well with mahi-mahi and mango salsa, or with a swordfish brochette.

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From Seasons: taking the trouble out of bubbles

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*** Albert Mann Altenbourg 1996 ($19.99, Bauer Wines). A curve ball: this Alsatian sensation is much leaner and more charming than its almost syrupy German peers. Alsatian rieslings have a lot more alcohol (12 percent in this winner) and are generally less sweet. This has hints of citrus and apricots and would make an excellent accompaniment to shrimp, tuna, or oysters on the half-shell.

*** John Joseph Cristoffel Ürziger Würzgarten Auslese ($29.99, Big Y). Plenty of honey to go with the apple and citrus flavor. Good acid and a clean finish; if you don't mind sweet, then you ought to give this a try.

David Marglin can be reached at wine[a]phx.com.

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