No need to. So much food has a sweet component or a pronounced spicy component, that some sweetness in a wine makes it a better match than something bone dry. I know sweet German Riesling is going a bit out of fashion, but it’s a great food partner, especially at the Kabinett level.
I think this is a good list (although I don’t like Nikolaihof at all, but I realize there’s quite a following, and they’re certainly not short on complexity). I would add Brundlmayer. Even their entry level is really good, and everything above that is impressive.
Since we’re talking specifics, it’s worth reiterating that there’s an enormous range of styles in Alsace alone. I would get something from Trimbach (Reserve or Frederick Emile), Weinbach, and either Zind-Humbrecht or Ostertag to explore the variety. I think the Trimbach CFE and CSH are more typical of Trimbach than of Alsace in general.
Yes, Brundlmayer is a must try. The regular Heiligenstein Riesling is a fantastic wine at a very fair price.
In Alsace I would also recommend Dirler-Cade. Very good wines at very fair prices that are not over rich or over sweet.
I actually love acidity, and the German Rieslings are my favorite. The Austrian acidity just strikes me as coarse. Maybe it’s the combination of rich body and high acidity.
Knoll also happens to be a producer where (at least IMO) the wines take a while to come together - it’s quite possible the 2012 you tried wasn’t ready yet.
Doug, I almost added Brundlmayer to my list, but I have had more than a little bottle variation with his wines.
I’ve got a few different vintages of Hirtzberger’s Smaragd Hochrain - I may just grab Jeff and have a sit-down at one of our local places so he can see the same wine at different ages.
Interesting. I find Brundlmayer to be one of the most consistent producers (Austria or anywhere) in my cellar.
Bob, that sounds good to me! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Does smaragd mean dry?
Smaragd is a term that is used for riper wines from the Wachau region in Austria (that’s an oversimplification, but it gets the idea across). Pretty much all Austrian Riesling is dry, so they don’t mention that in any big way on the labels.
No need to hide in shame. I have zero dry German wines in my cellar. There are dry whites made from all over the world, but it is much rarer to have the wonderful combination of sweet and sour in a traditional German Kabinett or Spatlese.
A few years ago, so were balanced California Cabernet and Bordeaux. Great wines always make a comeback.
I hear folks mentioning a fear/dislike of too much alcoholic heat in German dry wines.
Most that I deal with are in the 12-13% alcohol range, which disturbs me not a bit.
In my experience with Austrian rieslings, they are often heavier (especially smaragd wines), yet I don’t hear any mention of heat in Austrian rieslings. (not to mention Gruners even higher)
Why do you suppose that is?
Danke
The extra body/richness in most Austrian Rieslings tends to mask the higher alcohol…sometimes. Wines from 2006 have always had a high alcohol issue that is especially evident now, 10 years past the vintage.
David, are the German dry wines somehow analytically different, making the extra body/richness of their wines NOT mask the alc?
I don’t really know anything about the chemistry, but lots of the German wines are grown on slate, and lots of the Austrians on loess, so it probably produces a very different type of wine.
In Austria, most of the sites with loess soils are planted to Gruner. Riesling is usually planted up on the slopes in rocky areas.
Also, generalizing German wines as coming from slate soils only really works in the Mosel. Yes there is some slate in the other regions but it’s only a small part of the total vineyard area.
This is my feeling as well. There tends to be more extract in the Austrians. Alcohol shows more in dry German riesling.
True - pardon the generalizations. Wasn’t interested in typing a treatise.
This is a tough question for me, not the least because I rarely drink Alsatian Riesling. As always, it’s hard to generalize. I’ve loved the few bottles of high-end Keller dry Riesling I’ve had but can’t justify the price tag for my own cellar. I buy a few Donnhoff GGs most years. But otherwise, for whatever reason, I’ve preferred Austrian dry Riesling to German dry. I think Austrian dry Rieslings tend to be slightly more balanced between fruit, alcohol, and acidity – beyond terroir, it seems to me that there is a stylistic choice toward fruitiness and body relative to the top German examples I’ve tried. Schloss Gobelsberg, Prager, and Alzinger are my favorite producers. I also really like Brundlmayer. I find them each to be distinctive.
That said, I buy far more German Riesling than Austrian. Chalk me up as another fan of a bit of residual sugar. Nothing pairs better with spicy “ethnic” food than an off-dry German Riesling. And the QPR for truly fantastic, age-worthy wine contends for the highest in the world (IMHO).
I’d be interested to see analytic numbers, as I can’t imagine any reason why Austrian Riesling would be much if any different in dry extract than in Germany.
It is always interesting to see the difference between taste perception and analytics, as is often the case for acidity/residual sugar that doesn’t always “feel” like it looks on paper…