Another White Knight

Oft-bashed riesling has earned a place at the table

By Christopher Cook

It turns out that 2007 was the year that dry rosé wine finally cemented its rightful place in the taste buds of American wine drinkers. But now, another once oft-maligned wine appears to be headed down a similar track. This one is riesling.
Some of the early numbers reflecting a surge in riesling emerged in 2005 supermarket sales, which saw an increase of 172 percent over 2004. Since then, distributors and shops report anecdotally that they continue to see an upswing.
And, as with rosé, it’s the dry variety — as opposed to sweet or off-dry — of riesling that’s leading the way. But semi-dry and sweet are also doing well.
This is particularly good news for riesling-producing states and regions such as Michigan, Ontario, and New York, which have garnered rave reviews, competition medals, and accolades from abroad and around the country but until now had not really entered the mainstream of wine.
Part of the increase is undoubtedly due to the aggressive education efforts for regional wines by programs such as the Uncork New York! of the New York Grape and Wine Foundation, or efforts of our smaller Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council and those of the Vintners Quality Alliance in Ontario. All three areas now produce some of the best riesling in North America.
Unfortunately, riesling traditionally has been viewed in this country as wine for old ladies, or sweet fruity German wine for beginners. In truth, those wines reflect but a tiny corner of riesling, a grape that produces a variety of styles more vast than any other white wine grape, including chardonnay. Riesling also produces some of the truly great age-durable whites, whether dry or sweet.
The question that most industry watchers have is: Why now? The answers are not altogether clear, other than that people are looking for something different in a white wine. A similar pattern occurred five years ago with pinot grigio, which blipped onto the radar screen as the new “in” white wine, surpassing chardonnay on restaurant wine lists.
One thing that seems to be pretty clear about riesling is that “ABC” (anything but chardonnay) is part of it, particularly when it comes to the big, heavy styles of white wines popularized by certain American and Australian wines.
Personally, I think the shift has to do with palates growing sophisticated and a boredom among wine drinkers with sauvignon blanc and even with pinot grigio, in addition to chardonnay.
Riesling really does offer a huge variety. If all this is correct, and the characteristics of dry riesling are truly an indication of where tastes are headed, that would suggest a palate shift among white-wine drinkers to crisper, firmer-bodied wines, and they may be searching for greater depth and complexity than they are now finding.
Here are three superb and very different examples of rieslings from various U.S. regions:

2006 Trefethen Dry Riesling, Napa Valley ($20): Dramatic, elegant wine, with green apple and honeysuckle aromas, firm and minerally in the mouth with citrus and peach notes, and a solid, slow finish.
2006 Chateau Grand Traverse Semi-Dry Riesling ($13): From the winery that started it all in Michigan comes this complex, dramatic wine that’s receiving kudos all over the country. Powerful rose-petal and litchi aromas are followed by subtle, almost soft flavors. This complex and layered wine is held together by great acidity and minerality.
2006 Dr. Konstantin Frank Dry Riesling, Finger Lakes ($18): Fairly widely found around Detroit, it delivers an example of the variety of riesling. This “classic” wine has a softer entry on aroma, but in the mouth it delivers bursts with tangerine-clementine notes, tealeaf flavors, and firm acidity.