There’s little doubt that riesling is undergoing a major return to prominence. The global preoccupation with chardonnay stifled opportunities for those growing and making riesling, but the truth is that people are becoming tired of the simplicity, the oakiness, the fatness and lack of genuine freshness displayed by so many modern chardonnays, from Worlds Old and New. Dry or sweet, riesling is more of a stylist’s wine. Where chardonnay can be rich and almost oily, riesling is by comparison finer and more tightly shaped. This lends it more towards a wider range of food, especially those fresher, essentially lighter Asian-inspired dishes based on lightly cooked vegetables, seafood and fruits, accompanied by clean, clear flavours of spices and even chilli. While the rieslings of Germany, the true home of the variety, remain quite sweet even to this day, those of Alsace are drier, more richly textured and savoury. Like those of the US, New Zealand’s rieslings tend to dwell more in the slightly sweet or ‘off-dry’ range, while those of Australia and the modern rieslings of Austria are typically bone-dry and racy. The best of the Australian and Austrian rieslings are finely sculpted, long and refreshing. In their youth they are perfumed with scents of lime juice and lemon, musk and rose petals. The mature slowly and gracefully, retaining their freshness and punctuation, emerging as complex, savoury, toasty wines of great interest. By and large, a dry riesling can be cellared confidently for much, much longer than a chardonnay. For its freshness, lack of overt oak influence (no half-decent riesling should ever be influenced by oak character), longevity, compatibility with food or ease of drinking entirely without, riesling is steadily resuming its place at the sharp end of the world’s most sought-after wines.
