Why don't you like Riesling?

I've just written about the a particularly good Clare Valley riesling in Wine Focus, because one local retailer here is specialling it for a bargain price (for this wine). When wines are specialled like this it's usually because the retailer has bought up the last stocks because it's end of line, or because the importer is flicking the product. I would hate for the latter to be the reason, but if it is not profitable, if people are not buying it, I can see the importer's reason for dumping it.

I find it amazing that some of us can go on and on and on about how much we like Riesling, yet there are so many others who, unless they actually try it - and find they actually like it - will keep avoiding it. I wonder why?

Is it the acidity?
Is it because you don't like sweet wines?
is it because you don't like dry wines?
Is it because you don't know from looking at the bottle whether it's going to be medium, sweetish, or dry?
Is it because you tried one once and didn't like it and that has put you off trying it again?
Is it because you don't like German wines? (Despite the fact Riesling is made in so many countries and in so many styles)?

If you don't like Riesling, please tell us why.

Sue, over here Riesling still unfortunately has associations with a cheap and (usually) nasty wine, Lutomer Rizling, that was imported from what was then Yugoslavia. Another possible reason for its bad press, perhaps? Oh, and even if the wine is not German, it sounds germanic. All proper grape varieties, of course, are French.

Apart from that I can't help you. I love Rieslings.

[Robin Garr]

If you don't like Riesling, please tell us why.

I don't hate Riesling, but I've often admitted that it's one of my greater "blind spots" in a generally all-embracing interest in wine.

For some reason, the grape varieties that I describe as "highly aromatic" don't appeal to me as much as the less in-your-face, or should I say in-your-nose grapes. I feel pretty much the same way about Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and Albariño. I don't actively dislike them, but when I have one in my glass, I want to reach out and turn down the volume, brightness and contrast controls.

I adore riesling, but I know many non wine geeks that shiver at the mention of riesling, mainly because they are used to the cheap, simple, sweet versions. I have two friends who tell me all the time they hate riesling, so I try to 'fool' them with trocken wines from germany and dry Alsacian ones. I have tricked them a couple of times...

Canadian rieslings can be OK, but they are mainly tasteless, boring wines that now tend to be made in a drier style, although some old fashioned sweet versions are still out there.

Clare Valley examples can often be a little too austere for my liking, although the best examples are world class.

I find it amazing that some of us can go on and on and on about how much we like Riesling, yet there are so many others who, unless they actually try it - and find they actually like it - will keep avoiding it. I wonder why?

Is it the acidity?
Is it because you don't like sweet wines?
is it because you don't like dry wines?
Is it because you don't know from looking at the bottle whether it's going to be medium, sweetish, or dry?
Is it because you tried one once and didn't like it and that has put you off trying it again?
Is it because you don't like German wines? (Despite the fact Riesling is made in so many countries and in so many styles)?

If you don't like Riesling, please tell us why.

Sue, I don't "not like riesling" however I must say that I don't often think of riesling to pair with many foods. IMO riesling is not for red meat, nor is it a match for many chesses. I love riesling with some pork dishes, and I think nothing fits a sausage (not Italian sausage) dish like riesling. Almost any German style sausage with either potatoes or with sauerkraut, and I will almost jump, straight to riesling. I like an off dry riesling more than the tooth enamel etching acidity of many rieslings from OZ including the Clare valley. (bear in mind that I am not damning all OZ rieslings), but I have not tasted many that are not very dry and very acidic. I suppose I should also state that I like Kabs more than I like Auslese wines and even a lot of Spat level rieslings. I suppose that I could say my name is not John Trombley! Someone above mentioned Ontario riesling and I have very little experience with those, but I sure like a lot of Michigan riesling that I have tasted, and have in my cellar.

Sue,

Generally hard to find good Riesling where I live.

German Riesling is hard to understand. Also, the names are quite difficult to pronounce and remember for this poor little head.

[b]It is difficult to know whether Riesling from any number of regions is dry or sweet.[/b]

Riesling is my favorite Alsace, and I have some bottles in my cellar, but strangely enought don't drink them very often.

Best regards,
Alex R.

It is difficult to know whether Riesling from any number of regions is dry or sweet.

Do you think the sweetness level (dry/medium/sweet) should be stated on the bottle?

Yes, Sue, it would be a big boon to know if the Riesling were a food wine or a sipping wine.

Not knowing definitely turns me off.

Mind you, do people agree on what's "off-dry", "medium sweet" and "sweet"?

Best regards,
Alex

German Riesling is hard to understand. Also, the names are quite difficult to pronounce and remember for this poor little head.

I spent about 20 years of my formative years in Germany and, despite years of cheap Chianti at home in New Jersey, really did cut my wine teeth on Riesling and other typically German varieties. German wines, in general, just seem to have a different profile than wines from Romance countries or the general Mediterranean area. And it was very, very hard for me to start appreciating the non-German varieties when I lived in France and Italy, and, above all, after I moved to California. It just seems like the tongue needs a separate calibration for the "Germans" on one the side and the "Romance" wines on the other. Nowadays, I can certainly enjoy both, but it's still German wines which are my "comfort wines."

C'mon, Alex, German ain't hard to pronounce! You simply need to up your Sauerkraut and Weißwurst consumption.

[David M. Bueker]

nor is it a match for many chesses.

I beg to differ there. Riesling is a much better match with most cheese than any red wine on the planet.

Yes, Sue, it would be a big boon to know if the Riesling were a food wine or a sipping wine.

Not knowing definitely turns me off.

Mind you, do people agree on what's "off-dry", "medium sweet" and "sweet"?

Best regards,
Alex

Good point (and for that matter I have had wines labeled "Dry Riesling" that had detectable residual sugar -we had a thread on that).

Still, some info is better than none. I like the sweetness index that Olivier Humbrecht started. An indice of 1 is dry, 2 detectable sugar, 3 off-dry, 4 sweet, 5 is full blown sticky. It at least gives me a clue.

Mind you, do people agree on what's "off-dry", "medium sweet" and "sweet"?

I'm sure they don't. And with Riesling, in my opinion, it's not just enough to state the sugar (although that would be good info for diabetics) but the acidity plays a big part too, so a wine with high sugar content and very high acidity, could be perceived as much drier than the sugar content on its own would suggest.

[/quote]

Do you think the sweetness level (dry/medium/sweet) should be stated on the bottle?[/quote]

YES,YES!!!! As a retailer I've been involved in this discussion before and nothing has changed. Alsace, Loire, are two other regions that would sell better if people knew the level of sweetness each bottle contained. Germany has the same faults plus a horrible problem with the labels that customers dislike.

I must say that I don't often think of riesling to pair with many foods

Don't ofter disagree with you Bob, but this time I must. If I were limited to two grapes/wines in the world to go with food they would be Riesling and Pinot Noir.

Sue wrote;
I'm sure they don't. And with Riesling, in my opinion, it's not just enough to state the sugar (although that would be good info for diabetics) but the acidity plays a big part too, so a wine with high sugar content and very high acidity, could be perceived as much drier than the sugar content on its own would suggest.

You need a tech or data sheet just to decipher what style of Riesling you are buying! Hey, that sounds like a good idea, get rid of the points and reviews and post tech or data sheets (with winemaker’s notes) as “shelf-talkers”. (Of course to the average consumer this would be useless, but for the “wine geek” or home wine maker much more useful than say points or reviews).

Salute

Hard to find good ones down here. I like the Trocken / Halbtrocken styles and Alsace wines. Just hard to find good ones. I actually had better luck with Riesling in a smaller market when we lived there, for some reason. Maybe the buyer in that market was more knowledgleable.

I generally avoid sweeter wine styles in any case.

Richard

I must say that I don't often think of riesling to pair with many foods

Don't ofter disagree with you Bob, but this time I must. If I were limited to two grapes/wines in the world to go with food they would be Riesling and Pinot Noir.

I guess I stepped on my tongue with that statement Carl. I still maintain that there are a lot of foods that don't ring the riesling bell, but I did name some that do. Maybe I need to try some of David B's cheeses with riesling, but I don't know where to start.

I encounter the same prejudices down under, even over local wines (almost all of which are very dry), and among people who ought to be young enough to know better. There seems to be a sort of almost generational inheritance that causes people to think of riesling as 'sweet' by definition. If I suggest a riesling, I hear "I don't really like sweet wines" from someone in their twenties or thirties (whose favourite tipple might be 'modern' sauvignon blanc or chardonnay!). 'Well, try this' I say, and invariably the wine makes a good impression.
None of the germanic reasons (labels, fonts, syllables, indeterminate sugar) for avoiding the wine apply to Australian riesling, and yet still people are scared of it. In the Australian context, it's paradoxically not because of riesling at all, but because the name was bastardized on all kinds of wines (especially carboard casks) who appropriated the name as a style. No other grape suffered this libel. Cheap, nasty bulk (and bottled) wine might have been labelled claret, burgundy, hermitage, riesling, hock, moselle, beaujolais, white burgundy, chablis... With proper 'truth in labelling' and compliance with EU directives, all those names have disappeared from Australia wine bottles except one; riesling. Now used correctly, of course. But anyone who was exposed to those old names on local offerings might be entitled to be scared of the name still appearing on bottles in 2008.
Only until they taste the wine, of course. I don't think so many people dislike riesling. They're just scared of the name because of what it used to signify...
cheers,
Graeme

My co-worker, who is not really into wine, raved about Riesling the first time he tasted it. From quizzing him it sounded as though he had tasted a German Auslese. The next time he tasted a Riesling he was baffled because he hated it. It turns out he had purchased a dry Oregon Riesling. He thought that "Riesling was Riesling" and was turned off by his second experience. I think that happens to lots of beginners. They don't understand the regions, or the classifications well enough to know what they are getting, and subsequently have a bad experience.

[David M. Bueker]

Other than people who hate fruit in their wine, I have never met anyone who didn't at least like Riesling a little bit once someone gave them a little education. Robin's lukewarm reaction is about as close to dislike I have run across absent a bit of knowlege.

Sue, it's really only in the context of not caring for the "sweet-tart" profile that I could conceive answering your question from a "don't like Riesling" standpoint ... and since we know that Riesling is made in extremely diverse styles, it must follow that there are versions of varietal Riesling out there that do appeal to me - and indeed there are.

I must say that my approach towards the wines isn't at all systematic; I don't have any favourite producers as such. There are two distinct styles of Riesling that I love, for entirely different reasons - mainly these are mood-related: (1) bone-dry, austere, full versions with lots of diesel/petrol on the nose - Austria and sometimes Alsace deliver here; (2) low-alcohol (~8%) medium-dry M-S-R Rieslings with their flowery/stony aromatics; this last style is both gulpable due to the low alcohol and very enjoyable due to the piercing aromatics.

I like trying Ontario Rieslings, but too many just lack the sort of overt, full-on aromatics that define my favourite examples. To me, the more direct and forceful a Riesling's aromatics, the more I love that particular wine.

Lots of guesses why people think they won't or don't like it. Hard to read labels. Unknown sugar levels. Cheap wine reputation. Sweet nothing reputation. Bad with food and cheese reputation.
And while most reasons are wrong, misguided or, at the very least, limited to specific wines, I LOVE THEM ALL. I hope others continue to shun wines from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard, Old Mission Peninsula, or anything with the name "Donnhoff" on it. I encourage that kind of thinking.

...I hope others continue to shun wines from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard, Old Mission Peninsula, or anything with the name "Donnhoff" on it. I encourage that kind of thinking.

OW - You forgot to add "anything that ends with '-lese'".

Good thread here eh. I am a big Riesling fan.....Austria, Oz, Germany but always seem to prefer cellaring for some time.
All the comments here are valid and I agree level of sweetness on back label would help. Food match-ups can be a challenge alright. I have some `99 Morts Vale Killikanoon ready to go but am stumped for a food idea right now! Certainly not my famous crab cakes (grin wink).

Bob H wrote.....I like an off dry riesling more than the tooth enamel etching acidity of many rieslings from OZ including the Clare valley.
Just put them in the cellar and age alongside those Tahbilk Marsannes!!