Riesling or reisling?

Yes, Riesling grapes make some of the best wine in Germany. Austria and a few other countries, mostly with fairly cool climates, make some excellent wines from Riesling also.

If Riesling is not on the label, the wine likely is made from other grapes, except for some of the higher end wines from the Mosel and a few other areas that only use Riesling. But if the wine is fairly inexpensive, it probably is not Riesling unless it says so on the label.

Rieslings come in styles from bone dry to nearly as sweet as honey for some of the rare late harvest ones. Many will age well for several to many years. Price can range from very inexpensive to a small fortune for some of the rare, sweet late harvest wines.

If you have not had a German Riesling before, it might be best to go to a store that has a big selection of German wines with help that seems to know something about the wine. If you let them know what price range you will consider, how dry or sweet you wish the wine to be, if you want one ready to drink now or to age, etc., they probably can find something that you will like. The German vineyards, especially many of the better ones, are fragmented among many different owners, each of which often makes several styles of wine each year. Because of this huge variety, what is available at a store in my area may be very different from what is available where you live. Since you are at Atlantic City, it seems likely there should be a store or two that has a variety of Rieslngs from Germany and elsewhere.

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riesling!

"ie" is prounounced as "e" in german. "ei" as "i" eg. nein

find an australian riesling....much better than german $ for $. usually higher in alcohol with resultant better mouth feel. also great depth of flavor. clare valley south australia has good examples......bottled under stelvin to retain freshness and eliminate corking potential. N

Alcohol levels and depth of flavour are unrelated. As a matter of fact, German riesling il living proof of that.

Mike

"ie" is pronounced like "ee" - So Riesling would be "Reesling" to an American. Had it been Reisling the pronounciation would have been "Riceling"... hth Anders

try this link for an explanation:

and a personal note - Riesling is only good when it is really young 1-2 years or really old above 12 better near 20 years. In between it is best described pubescent - pimples all over and hard to bear.

regards james

NJDeMarco wrote:

Some of the information given there is outdated, some plain wrong - but most data are correct.

M.