Dry Riesling Recommendations

Hi all.

I apologize if this has been covered, but I couldn’t find anything in search.

I’m looking for recommendations for a dry Riesling in the $45-65 price range. I don’t have a ton of experience with the grape, but I recently had one that I really enjoyed, and you’ll have to excuse me if I’m butchering this name: 2012 Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Riesling Grosses Gewächs Alte Reben. I’d like to try branch out and try some new producers, but stay in a similar lane with regard to the flavor profile of this wine. I know there’s some people on here that have forgotten more than I’ll ever know about it – any ideas?

Thanks!

Jason, what town do you live in? Might help to give you a rec for a shop that carries more. I’m a fan of dry German riesling, but a bigger fan of Austrian Riesling, which is almost always dry (so you don’t have to deal with the complexities of Germany). There are tons of wines you can find in your price range (and below) that are really good. We get more of the Terry Theise portfolio here on the West Coast (at least in the Bay Area), and he has a dozen good Austrian producers: Alzinger, Brundlmayer, Gobelsburg, Nigl, Hirsch, Hiedler, Nikolaihof to name a few that I collect. 2013 was one of the best vintages in years, and there are still quite a few in the market if you go looking.

Thanks Alan, that’s good information. I’ve had a few nice gruners fron Nigl, but that’s about the extent of my exposure to Austria.

I live in Austin, and it seems like the retail options here are somewhat limited, however many local retailers are willing to special order just about anything. I’ll shoot them an email and see what they can find of those producers in 2013. I also keep a locker in CA, so if there are shops in the bay area that have a good online presence I’m all ears.

Have you tried these producers Peter Lauer, Weingut Robert Weil, Joh Jos Prum? They make pretty good dry variations. And of course Egon muller (pricier), but his stuff tend to have more fruit and less dry, but still to me the grand cru of rieslings!

Jason, add your city to the From section of your profile. That will help us target our responses when we can. There are a lot of good dry Rieslings out there. The names mentioned above are good starters. You might add Christoffel and Donhoff to the list.

Did you try Austin Wine Merchant? Earlier this month, I bought a couple of dry German Riesling from their bin ends cart. Everyone there knows their wine. John (the owner) is around a lot. You can usually find dry Riesling at the larger Spec’s stores. I don’t know which one is the biggest in Austin but give them a try too.

Two of my favorite wine buddies live in Austin. Send me a PM and the next time I am down there, maybe all of us can get together.

Just to throw in a couple ideas, especially if you are budget conscious, would be to try a few of the dry Rieslings from the Finger Lakes. They can be delicious. Hermann J. Wiemer, Dr. Konstantin Frank, and Ravines make some good dry rieslings. I was very spoiled when I went to school in the area.

Also worth trying, Trimbach’s Cuvee Frederic Emile. The bonus being they are released with several years of age on it already.

Domestically, Trefethen makes a terrific dry Riesling for <$20.

My wife and I have been on a Keller Limestone kick recently. The Kabinett is actually pretty sweet with 40 g/L Residual Sugar, but the Qba (simply called Keller Limestone) has half that amount of RS, and the Trocken level has a mere 4 g/L RS so should be right up your alley. You should be able to get 2 bottles in your price range. For around $45, you could get a bottle of their Rheinhessen RR which is dry like a Trocken level too.