It works except at our dinners
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I wonder how Riesling will ever escape the stereotype of only being sweet
It’s annoying to say this, but it would probably take some super cringey thing like the Kardashians saying it’s their favorite wine.
Not because Riesling doesn’t “deserve” a broader audience, but it’s been around a long time and just being good wine isn’t going to break the glass ceiling.
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Your note on my Prum cracked me up
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The New York Times ‘T’ Magazine had a culture quiz. One of the questions was a true / false:
“The German white wine riesling is always sweet.”
Please note that they did not capitalize Riesling.
Also, they did not give the percentages of people who got the questions right. I’d love to know what the balance was for the Riesling question.
It was pretty interesting, when we had dinner last weekend, @Nick_Christie asked Eileen and I why we don’t like Riesling and her answer was much more nuanced than mine, which is that I feel the wines are very often unbalanced in acid versus fruit and feel hollow in the mid palate, except at the very top level. Nick was also correct that I like the higher alcohol Austrian rieslings a bit more for this reason.
She said that she feels like the wines lack narrative, as in usually lacking smooth integration of many often discordant elements, which I guess is a more elegant way of expressing what I said above. People have poured us a lot of Riesling, and almost without exception she’s taken a sip and poured it out. Interestingly her sister really likes Riesling.
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Technically, I think it was Charles who asked the question and then I sort of facilitated a follow-up discussion 
I often use musical analogies with wines (& palates) because I do think the musicality of certain wines/grapes/styles can have opposite effects on different people. I’ve known many Classical music listeners who have a strong apathy to a bedrock Composer (like Mozart or Chopin).
There are no absolutes in this journey. I’m often lowest on the table on otherwise very popular wines.
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Somewhere in the Auslese range….
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I feel like one of the areas where our palates separate is in preferences of weight/intensity and acids. I don’t think that we have an ocean between us or anything dramatic. But makes sense to me that German Riesling would be less appealing to you than Austrian and I have a hidden desire to make Goodfellow band nerd t-shirts that say, “I play the Federspiel” on them. I don’t buy Smaragd as it’s, to me, ponderous, often alcoholic, and mostly not refreshing (again, specifically to my palate).
I’m sure that we have plenty of crossover in wines as well though.
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All of this Riesling drift and as I skim the thread, no mention of Alsace?
I wonder what those who prefer Austrian Rieslings to German think of Alsace bottlings. My sweet spot for Alsace Riesling is normally a Reserve level… I find basics sometimes too thin, appreciate the ripeness and plumpness of Reserve level wines that still are not sweet.
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If God wanted us to drink dry wine, he wouldn’t have made it come from Grapes.
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Oh I’m not going out of my way to drink any Riesling, simply I prefer Austrian to German; Nick knows I also lived there before. I prefer Gruner to any Riesling in a heartbeat though.
I find your Chardonnays much more compelling with much better fruit/acid balance even if they have very crisp acidity. The comparison of the 19 Temperance with Dureuil-Janthial blind was quite interesting. While I think it was quite easy to distinguish both Oregon chards from the white burg, I really liked how the temperance was drinking, although I kinda wish I’d opened the Richard’s!
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I like the sweet wines from Alsace, I don’t think about the dry Riesling at all.
That’s interesting to hear about the 19 THV and the 19 Dureuil-Janthial. I used to feel that Willamette Valle Chardonnay had link to Muersault in flavors, but in the past 4-5 years I feel that is shifting. Likely, I am just seeing the differences more clearly as time goes by, but also I think as I taste more WV Chardonnays with time in bottle they just seem more distinctive.
I love the 2019s and the Richard’s is coming together but I am looking forward to seeing it in 3-4 years. The vintage is just great, so I am hoping to get a line up together at the 10 year mark.
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For me, it’s most about age. Young Riesling is a tasty enough beverage but not as much a “wine experience” in my (highly personal and subjective) opinion. It doesn’t scratch my wine itch.
To me, aged Riesling usually has the fruit recede into balance with the mineral, earth and general terroir. Even just a good $20 Kabinett at age 15-20 is, to me, much more interesting than a new highly rated release costing 3x as much. Yet still has the same food pairing versatility as young Riesling.
Again, just my personal preference.
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Here are my notes from the event.
Wine 1: Beautiful stone fruits, roundness and richness. Got some calls of Meursault, and most people thought this was a bit more mature. Incredible density on the palate and length. A lot of guesses of Meursault here. Almost everyone was sure this was a white Burgundy.
Reveal: 2017 Vincent Dureuil-Janthial Rully 1st Les Meix Cadot
Wine 2: A little lighter in color, with some lime and a hint of mint on the nose, with some struck match. This was elegant, and had great length. Certainly younger and needs more time than wine 1.
Reveal: 2019 Goodfellow Temperance Hill
I thought the Meix Cadot was very good but it was definitely not tight like some 17s. It was in a very good spot but perhaps I would have expected it to be a little less giving, both wines were slightly warmer than I prefer though as they hadn’t been chilled for that long, maybe 62-65F initially, which could have contributed.
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IMO, it is the best wine to pair with burgers and BBQ. Thing is, with that food, I’m typically going for beer. But for people who’d rather have wine, I’d recommend Zin.
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I rarely buy Austrian Riesling or Gruner, but when I do I buy Federspiel precisely for this reason. In my experience, Smaragd Gruner tastes like vodka water.
Also great with grilled Mexican / Southwestern meats and veggies. Carne Asada, carne adobada, pastor, etc.
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I always think about spicy marg over Zin for Mexican food lmao.